A Beastly Rose
by rugbyrose
Summary: History has repeated itself as Rose, Belle and Adam's daughter, is transformed into a beast after picking an enchanted rose belonging to a malevolent red enchantress. To break the spell, she must fall in love with another and earn his love in return before the last petal falls. But will anyone learn to love a beast? I own only my OCs.
1. Chapter 1

In a small region of France, nestled within a pristine forest, lay a shimmering white castle. Although one wouldn't know it if they were seeing it for the first time, it had once been under an enchantment which happened years ago.

The region's young king, Adam, who lived in the castle, had once been a spoiled, selfish and unkind child. When he was only eleven years old, he was transformed into a hideous beast by an enchantress, disguised as an old beggar woman whom he refused shelter to on Christmas Eve and his servants were transformed into household objects until he had learnt to love another and earn her love in return before his twenty-first birthday.

In the enchantment's last year, it had been broken and Adam had married a former peasant woman named Belle, who became his queen and whom he loved with all his heart and soul as did she.

The couple were devoted to each other and their kingdom which they ruled fairly and benevolently and were loved by their subjects who resided in the village where Belle came from, given their history but they let bygones be bygones and made peace with each other.

A year after their wedding, the queen became pregnant and it was a joyous and happy time for the couple, as they had wanted a child very much and vowed to love their son or daughter and always be there for him or her, no matter what. The servants were also excited about the coming baby, especially Chip, who was looking forward to having a new playmate.

Along with the long-serving faithfuls- Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs Potts, Babette and Madame Armoire- six new servants had joined the staff, having endured hardships in their lives and were keen to leave all that behind and have a fresh start. They were married couple Raymond and Amelie, the castle artists; brothers George and Remy, the launderers; Katrine, a dressmaker and Madame Armoire's beloved niece and Rebecca, a kitchen maid and part-time doll maker.

They had little to no knowledge about the enchantment, although Katrine, through her aunt, seemed to be more knowledgeable about it. In addition, Belle's father Maurice had married Mrs Potts and became a well-loved permanent resident of the castle and received a huge, well-lit and ventilated workroom where he could work on his inventions and was looking forward to the birth of his grandchild.

But the peace was soon shattered when one day, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, a mob invaded the castle, intending to kill the king. It was led by Anton LeGume, the younger brother of Gaston, the late 'hero' of the village who had wanted Belle as his wife and had also led a mob to kill the Beast when he realised that Belle fell in love with him, only to meet his demise by falling into a ravine after stabbing the Beast and the mob had been defeated by the enchanted objects.

Anton, although he had hated Gaston, since he had always usurped him in everything he did and had been the favourite son in their family, nonetheless wanted to avenge his brother's death and become the new town hero- 'to do what Gaston never could- kill the king and claim the queen as my own!' he had said at the time.

After entering, he got his cronies that he managed to recruit when he told them he was avenging Gaston and one of them just happened to be LeFou, Gaston's loyal sidekick who also wanted to avenge his death, to gather Adam, a heavily pregnant Belle, Maurice and the servants into the ballroom, tied them up and held them hostage, making them witness to his terrible deed, where they were helpless to do anything and could only pray that no harm came to them and that they would be saved.

Adam, determined to protect and save Belle, Maurice and the servants and fearing for his child, fought Anton, only to get shot in the chest by his pistol in front of everyone.

'See that, Pa? WHO'S YOUR FAVOURITE NOW?!' he shouted to the sky, as he shot Adam. Anton then grabbed Belle, who was distraught about what happened to Adam and tried to get her to marry him. When she refused, Anton grabbed her roughly by the neck and pointed the pistol at her stomach, intending to harm both her and her unborn child.

Fortunately, Cogsworth was able to raise the alarm and the ordeal ended when Anton was arrested (and later executed for attempted regicide) and everyone was freed safe and relatively unharmed (sans for Adam), although they were rattled by the whole thing. Adam had been lucky that the bullet from Anton's pistol hadn't struck his heart, only grazing his rib (had it indeed struck, it would've been fatal) and was expected to make a full recovery. Belle and the baby were both fine and none the worse for wear after the ordeal, to her relief as she had been terrified of losing both of them.

A month later, everything was back to normal and Belle gave birth to a healthy, beautiful baby girl, who was the spitting image of Belle with Adam's auburn hair and sapphire blue eyes. The little princess was named Rose, since it was that flower that brought her parents together, Belle's favourite flower and it was in a rose garden where Adam had proposed to Belle, so it had significant meaning for them. Belle and Adam instantly loved their precious daughter the moment she arrived and placed into Belle's arms, spending the rest of the day cuddling and nuzzling her.

A huge celebration banquet was put on a week after Rose's birth, where villagers and nobles from all around France and the Versailles court came bringing gifts and their respect and well-wishes to the newborn princess, who spent the time sleeping in her crib, with her proud parents looking on. They also lit pink rose-shaped candles to mark her birth and would light one every year on her birthday, with pearl-studded ones to mark milestone birthdays.

It was hoped that Rose would have a healthy, happy childhood, never to suffer the same fate as her father and that she would grow into a beautiful young woman who would one day become queen of her kingdom and for a while, it seemed that way. No one could know what fate was to come.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose grew up into a beautiful little girl, who enjoyed a very happy and carefree life. Belle and Adam, unusually for a royal couple, were very involved in her life, as they agreed that Rose was an extra special exception to any written rule in the book, that they, as her parents, would raise their child, not a stranger but would call on help if needed and Belle loved having her daughter with her always.

It was a common sight to see Adam riding Rose on his shoulders, swimming with her in the lake and pushing her on the swing in the garden, Belle reading to her, giving her lessons, teaching her to ride Phillipe, the three of them enjoying a picnic in the fields together, playing in the snow in the winter and every night, they were always there to tuck her into bed and give her a goodnight hug and kiss and Belle would always read Rose a story- _Rapunzel _being her favourite.

Although she had everything she could ever want, she was not spoiled, selfish or unkind. She was not demanding, never threw any tantrums, was very easy to please, had very good manners and was happy and kind to everyone she knew. She also had a bit of her father's temper, but was able to control it far easier than he had done and it rarely showed.

Rose was also very modest, not really liking much attention and when the royal family visited the village, she would play with the children and gave them and those less fortunate toys and clothes she didn't need or want.

She was loved and adored by everyone, not just in the castle but the kingdom and the court at Versailles as well, when she and her parents were summoned to attend. Even the stiffest and stuffiest nobles were won over by her beauty, charm and manners- so much that many princes much older than her offered marriage proposals, egged on by their mothers, who were eager for their sons to marry her!

All in the castle loved her- in fact some of the biggest fights the servants had were over who would get to help take care of her, some even physically hurting each other. Mrs Potts-Gravois (her new name since marrying Maurice, but was still called Mrs Potts, since many found it a mouthful to say), along with Maurice, mostly helped Belle and Adam with the care of the princess, being her step-grandmother, known as 'Nana' to Rose.

Katrine, in addition to her dressmaking duties, was her handmaid. She was responsible for dressing the princess for the day, getting her into her nightgown for bed, doing her hair and helping her pick out a dress to wear for the day, one of the many beautiful garments that Katrine worked long and hard on for her.

Rebecca made her four ragdolls and a few porcelain ones, dressed in outfits that Katrine made for them. Rose liked them all, but her most favourite doll was Rebby, a ragdoll that Rebecca made for her first birthday and she named it after her. The name was chosen for when she learned to talk, that was how she tried to pronounce Rebecca's name.

The arguments were soon resolved when it was agreed that everyone could have a fair share in taking care of Rose but not before Rebecca almost had her arm broken by Babette when they were fighting over who should give the princess her bath.

But Rose loved all the servants and regarded them as family, with the senior servants being seen as uncle and aunt figures and the younger servants were like big sisters and brothers. She was also best friends with Chip, now in his teens, although he was technically her step-uncle, was like a big brother and Sophie, who was Raymond and Amelie's daughter who had been born in the castle and was two years younger than Rose.

The trio would spend many happy hours playing games in the garden, chasing Sultan and Lila, Rose's pet cat which she received two years ago at Christmas, watching Sultan chase Lila, listening to Belle reading them stories, throwing snowballs (mostly at Cogsworth) and ice skating in the winter, helping Mrs Potts and Rebecca in the kitchen, making cookies and cakes, painting and making clay sculptures with Sophie's parents in their studio and exploring the castle, daring each other to go into forbidden areas.

They also caused harmless mischief around the castle, much to the dismay of Cogsworth, who often had trouble keeping up with them.

'Rowdy young things,' he muttered when he found them trying to sneak into Adam's study in the West Wing.

His comment, which was also used to describe the younger servants, was met with rebuffs such as-

'It's just harmless tomfoolery!' Raymond (which was his favourite expression)

'You're only young once!' Lumiere

'They were just curious and no harm was done. And they are well-behaved children who seldom cause trouble' Mrs Potts

'Oh loosen up, Cogsie! You're such a stick in the mud! Didn't you do anything like that when you were their age? God knows I did!' Remy (who used nicknames for everyone, which annoyed them, with the exception of Belle and Adam, of course)

'I know, Remy, I was unfortunate enough to witness it when we were younger and I was always the one to bail you out when you were in trouble.' George

'It's not like they messed anything up, so it's no use getting worked up about it and the master won't be any wiser.' Amelie

'This is Cogsworth we're talking about, he always gets worked up about everything. He makes a mountain out of a molehill.' Katrine

Cogsworth just sighed. Sometimes the servants really tested his and the masters' patience with their inability to work together, the constant arguments, accidents and broken objects caused by Raymond, him arguing with Lumiere (nothing new), Rebecca and Katrine whispering and giggling together late into the night and having to tell them to be quiet, to name a few.

He had hoped to retire after Belle and Adam married but his loyalty to them and the arrival of the new servants who needed his guidance in the first few weeks of their employment made him stay and he was fond of Rose, even when she caused mischief.

He also allowed her to keep Lila, when it was discovered that he had an allergy to cats, sneezing when exposed to Lila, after seeing how much his young mistress loved and took good care of her cat. Lila could stay, provided that she and Cogsworth were not in the same room at any time and that she earned her keep, which she did by being a very good rat catcher.

As for the servants, Remy was the main cause of the problems due to his loud, brash, immature, rebellious, mischievous, carefree and obnoxious behaviour. George, the sensible and weary foil to his younger brother's antics, commented that

'He hasn't aged a day since seven! He may be twenty-five now but he has the maturity of a child! It's like he never grew up!'

Remy's behaviour was a constant source of annoyance to everyone, as they hated him calling them nicknames that they didn't find amusing, he would rig card games- twenty-one being his favourite- that he played with the men in their chambers after doing their duties for the day, had a very loud voice that could be heard all around the castle and they felt that he was a 'complete idiot and blabbermouth', sans for Rose, Chip and Sophie who were amused by Remy's antics, jokes, harmless pranks, silly facts and stories.

He had been summoned to Adam many times due to complaints from Rebecca, whom he had a crush on but she did not return his affections.

She found him annoying and repulsive when he tried to hit on her and, along with the others, thought that he only loved her for her beauty and her excellent culinary skills, but he insisted that his love for her was genuine.

He usually escaped punishment, as George had promised Adam, Belle and Cogsworth to keep Remy on his toes and prevent him from acting up, which was easier said than done.

Also, Remy constantly clashed with and picked on Lumiere due to them having similar personalities. The younger man was jealous of him having a relationship with Babette and being able to get women when he couldn't, being unsuccessful with Rebecca and taunted him about getting on a bit age wise while he was young and vibrant, yet Lumiere was still suave and charming, in total contrast to Remy, who was annoying and childish.

The poor maitre'd was often on the wrong end of ridiculous bets that the young launderer placed on him, often losing money or doing humiliating and demeaning things.

The day Rose was born, Lumiere lost a bet placed by Remy on the baby's gender and had to wear one of Babette's dresses for an entire week, which resulted in him being laughed at, teased and mocked for days and him swearing vengeance on Remy.

'Never make a bet with Remy or you'll end up regretting it for the rest of your life,' George would say, yet it fell on deaf ears and Lumiere would always be the hapless victim of Remy's bets, no matter what he tried to beat him.

Despite his many faults, Remy was a good soul at heart and cared for his older brother and those he loved, showed respect to his masters, not calling them nicknames as expected and was good at his job, although he found it embarrassing and demeaning to be doing a 'woman's job', even though he and George had been launderers their whole lives.

Raymond also added to the problems. He was sweet, caring, cowardly but brave when he needed to be, panicky and got easily worried over the littlest things but a very devoted husband and father, who doted on Sophie and never scolded her when she got into trouble (which Amelie would do), yet he was extremely clumsy and accident-prone.

He tripped over things, knocked over objects, fell down flights of stairs, stepped on things, dropped, spilled and broke anything he touched and received many injuries, which Amelie kept track on in a journal, an example would be:

'August the second. Raymond worked on a stained glass window in the Master and Mistress's sitting room in the West Wing. Cut his finger on a piece of glass and needed eight stitches. I had to finish the window myself.'

Raymond's accidents frustrated his wife and the castle physician, Monsieur Hulliot, who often had to treat his injuries and Amelie had to do most of the work, which involved painting portraits, doing sketches, painting rooms, making stained glass windows, vases, sculptures and pottery and restoring and painting chinaware and making new ones if any were beyond repair or couldn't be restored.

He was an obese man who had light brown hair in a ponytail with curls near his ears, tied with a black ribbon, had green eyes, a brown mustache and wore a black beret on his head, sand coloured shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark brown trousers, light brown apron with burgundy trim, white stockings and brown shoes.

Even though she loved her husband dearly, Amelie would sometimes wish that he 'wasn't so clumsy and cowardly!' and she would do some harmless flirting with the men, but it was nothing serious and Raymond would usually be oblivious to it. She was more assertive than him, as he accepted everything meekly (although sometimes he did display an assertive side especially when angry), but was friendly, kind and a loving mother, but was more firm with Sophie than Raymond was.

She was slender with long, blonde hair and wore a blue beret on her head, an orchid dress with rainbow trimming and short puffy sleeves and a white apron with paint splatters.

Sophie thankfully didn't inherit her father's clumsiness. She was a kind, brave, curious little girl, with her mother's blonde hair in pigtails (Amelie wore her hair in a ponytail) and her father's green eyes and nose. She wore a pink top with white trimming at the sleeves, a purple dress with lavender lacing on the bodice and brown shoes. She loved drawing pictures, which she would give to everyone although her drawing skills weren't entirely up to scratch yet, but as her mother would say to her 'practice makes perfect'.

Most of the time, Sophie would be in her parents' studio, drawing and painting pictures, making clay sculptures (she wasn't old enough to make marble and ice ones, and make glass stained windows, even though she wanted to), but would happily play with Rose and Chip, whenever she could, or if she was proving to be a distraction to her parents.

Rebecca, despite her problems with Remy, was content to be working in the castle and although still standoffish, like when she first came to the castle, was able to be friendly, kind and trustful of people again, considering what had happened to her.

When she was thirteen, having endured years of horrific physical and mental abuse from her cruel masters, who took in her when she was orphaned as a baby( her mother died giving birth to her and her father was unknown) and working as an unpaid slave and was beaten in jealous rages by her mistress, because of her looks (she was a beautiful girl with wavy blonde hair, which she wore in a half-ponytail with a pink bow, green eyes, and a slender build), she was desperate to get away.

One night, she stole some of her mistress's jewellery and ran from the house into the pouring rain, wearing nothing but her pink dress and white apron and found the castle before collapsing on the steps. Mrs Potts found her and took in her in, treated her bruises and sores from her beatings, and was offered a job as a kitchen maid when she impressed with her cooking skills.

At first, she was mistrustful of people, keeping to herself but opened up and came out of her shell when she found a surrogate mother and mentor in Mrs Potts, a best friend in Katrine, which she would hang out with, laugh at her metaphors and witty expressions, work with her and stay up late at night whispering and giggling (when Katrine remembered to finish work for the night and go to their chambers which they shared) was promoted to assistant cook and was grateful to have kind, caring masters.

But she had somewhat of a rivalry with Babette, but they got on most of the time and with a scullery maid, Nathalie who was jealous of her cooking skills and promotion and went out of her way to put Rebecca down, but she took no notice of her.

The dolls she made in her spare time were given to the village toyshop, orphans and underprivileged children, for the children who came to the castle's Christmas ball, as well as Rose and Sophie would also be given a few dolls.

For everyone in the castle and the kingdom, life couldn't be any better, the enchantment nothing more than a distant memory hardly ever mentioned and the six who had never experienced it, none the wiser.

But the saying 'those who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it' would soon become evident in the year Rose turned eight, an innocent mistake that had devastating consequences for all.


	3. Chapter 3

It had started as an ordinary day and with a bang- literally, with the sounds of Maurice inventing and causing explosions. His yells of-

'BLASTED CONTRAPTION!' and 'I'M DONE WITH THIS HUNK OF JUNK!' could be heard around the castle. Some servants joked that they didn't need an alarm clock to get up early in the morning- Maurice's explosions and frustrated yells did it for them.

As he composed himself after kicking the offending contraption, which was some sort of knitting machine, he realised that his undertrousers were showing. He heard the giggles of Rebecca and Katrine nearby and knowing that showing them would be VERY inappropriate in front of two young ladies, he quickly pulled his trousers up, just as the women walked past.

'Morning, ladies,' he said.

'Morning, Monsieur Maurice,' they said politely and curtseying to him. 'Monsieur Maurice' was what the servants called him, out of respect. Maurice nodded and carried on inventing, despite what he had said before, though he could hear the women giggling about his ridiculous goggles.

'Women,' he muttered to himself.

Also, Remy and George were up early, as they were every morning, to go into the forest to fetch water from the waterfall in the glade for use in the kitchen, laundry, washrooms and for bathing and drinking.

As the men headed towards the door, they ran into Rebecca and for Remy, this was a golden opportunity to get her to be his girlfriend again.

'Hi, Becks,' he said, flashing his big, mischievous smile.

'Hello, Remy,' Rebecca said, uninterested. _What annoying thing was Remy going to do today? _she thought to herself, sighing.

'What are you up to?' he then said, rather lamely.

'I was going to get breakfast ready for the masters and the princess- I'm making cherry vanilla porridge as it's her favourite, and make breakfast for us, but a certain _someone-' _Rebecca began, before giving Remy a hard stare, for that someone was obviously him, 'hasn't got the water for cooking and everything else and is wasting time making yet another pathetic attempt to hit on me, so I can't make breakfast!'

'Remy,' she continued, irritated, 'when are you and George going to get the water? You were supposed to get it an hour ago! Do you want us to go without water for the day?'

'Sorry, Rebecca, we were just going to get it, weren't we Remy?' George said.

'Oh, yes, we are Georgie, so chill out, would you?' snapped Remy, 'Hey listen, Becks, if you're not doing anything later tonight, want to hang out with me? I'll teach you how to play twenty-one, you can teach me how to cook and we can get to know each other better- it'll be great! How about it?'

Rebecca didn't say anything, but had a disgusted look on her face. Then she grabbed Remy by his shirt and said-

'Listen here Remy, I'll never be your girlfriend! You're a despicable, annoying creep, who only loves me for my looks and I want nothing to do with you EVER!'

'Aw, Becks, you know you love me really. And I'm not despicable! I'm very loving and everyone loves me! I love you so much and it's genuine! Just give me a chance!'

'No, they don't! And I certainly don't love you! Just leave me alone, Remy and give up on your childish fantasies of being with me! Don't make me go to the master again!' Rebecca said.

'Becks..' Remy said and attempted to kiss her, only to receive a slap to the face instead.

'Just go get the water, Remy!' she said and walked off in a huff, leaving Remy to lick his wounds. He then went after her, but George gave him a look that said 'quit while you're ahead' and Remy grabbed the big tub for the water, while glaring at his older bother-brother, his slap mark stinging his face.

Lumiere, having witnessed the debacle, chuckled at his tormentor.

'Rejected again by Rebecca, _mon ami?_' he said with heavy, sarcastic emphasis on the word 'ami' for he knew Remy was anything but.

'Shut up,' Remy snarled and, finally, he and George were out the door to fetch the water.

* * *

><p>In her grand bedroom, which was in the West Wing and a short distance from her parents' room, so she could be closer to them and easily find them if she had nightmares during the night, Rose was just waking up in her canopy bed, as the sun shone through the double doors that led to the balcony where she liked to sit and read if it was a nice, warm, sunny day and to look out into the forest and gardens, where she had the most wonderful views and was eagerly anticipating what the day had in store for her.<p>

Lila, who was snoozing at the end of the bed, as she usually did, meowed and moved up to Rose, who happily cuddled her and the cat purred in affection.

'Hello, Lila, my lovely kitty,' she said, gently stroking her golden coloured fur. Lila purred and nuzzled against Rose.

She then heard her grandfather getting grumpy at his inventions and giggled, then someone else who was also being grumpy caught her attention- it was Remy, and he was arguing with George, as they were coming back from the forest, with the tub now full with water-

'If I were you, Remy, I'd give up on Rebecca. She's not the girl for you, as she's too standoffish, since it took her a long time to trust people again. And there was no need to snap at Lumiere.'

'He rubbed it in my face, George! He thinks he's all that just because he can get the women round here. I mean, he has Babs and Angie once told me that she and Lumsie were an item once. Well, unlike him, I'm a one-woman man and the one woman I want keeps rejecting me! It's not fair!' Remy whined like a child.

'I don't love Becks just because she's beautiful and can cook delicious meals. I love her for who she is.'

'Ha! That's rich! I'll believe it the day pigs fly!' George laughed.

'Oh, aren't you a riot, Georgie! Did you get that from Kitty Kat? I know you have a crush on her!'

'I do not have a crush on Katrine, Remy!'

'Yes you do, you always go to mush when you are near her. Get a spine and actually talk to her, you'll have a better chance with her that I would with Becks.' Remy said bitterly.

'Oh, and by the way, that remark was NOT FUNNY! You know what, you think that you're sooo sensible and mature and that you can tell me what to do just because you're older than me, the responsible brother, in charge of the troublemaker. That's you, George. Why can't you loosen up, like me?'

'Why can't you GROW UP and STOP acting like a CHILD?'

'Don't yell at me, George, I haven't had my coffee yet and you wouldn't like me when I'm caffeine deprived!'

'Well, if you hadn't wasted time hitting on Rebecca and irritating her, we would've got the water earlier and you would've had your coffee!'

Hearing the launderers arguing (it was impossible not to since Remy had such a loud voice), Rose got out of bed, putting Lila down on the floor and grabbing Rebby from under the sheets, opened the doors, walking out onto the balcony and said

'Good morning Remy! Good morning George!'

Hearing the princess call out to them, George and Remy stopped arguing and turned towards where Rose was and bowed to her. Remy nearly forgot to until George nudged him and he did so.

'Good morning, Princess,' George said, politely.

'Hello, Princess!' Remy said, 'You're up early, aren't you?'

'As I am every morning,' Rose said, 'What were you two arguing about?'

George stammered at that question, while Remy just clicked his tongue and tugged at his shirt, which was untucked. Remy didn't take much pride in his appearance, having his brown hair untied and in his face, wearing a light red shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, a dark red vest ,wrinkled red trousers, white stockings and scruffy brown shoes.

In contrast, George was neat and tidy, having short brown hair with a fringe on either side of his head, and wore a tidy light green shirt, also with rolled up sleeves, a green tunic and dark green trousers, with the same stockings and shoes as Remy.

Trying to come up with a convincing explanation for Rose, in case she heard something she shouldn't and went to tell her parents, George managed to come up with-

'Nothing, Princess, everything's fine. Remy just hasn't had his coffee yet and it makes him grumpy and I bear the brunt of it,' he said, as he and Remy entered the castle. Rose just giggled and went back inside.

Remy then rushed into the kitchen, oblivious to the fact that Rebecca was there, complaining about him to Mrs Potts and would later do so to Katrine and shouted,

'Get me my coffee NOW!' leaving George to drag the heavy tub of water by himself.

'REMY! Get back here and help me carry the tub!' he yelled, but it fell on deaf ears.

* * *

><p>As she did every morning, before Katrine came into her room to help her get dressed, Rose headed to her parents' room for a cuddle, but not before letting Lila out.<p>

'Out you go Lila,' she said, stroking her, 'Don't let Sultan bother you on the way and make sure you don't go near Uncle Cogsworth, we don't want him sneezing all over the place.' With Lila out of the way, she tiptoed down the West Wing, as not to disturb anyone, even though she and her parents were the only occupants there.

As she approached the room, she opened the door quietly and tiptoed in. She saw her parents tucked up in their grand bed, holding each other close and sleeping peacefully, but that wouldn't last long, for Belle and Adam soon found themselves being woken up by their daughter, jumping on the bed enthusiastically.

'Good morning Mama and Papa!' Rose joyfully exclaimed, expecting a response. What she got instead were sleepy murmurs and mumblings as they groggily opened their eyes but smiled warmly at her.

'Hello _ma petite,_' Adam mumbled, rising up. His hair was sticking up and he had sleep in his eyes, but was still happy to see Rose and gathered her up in a big hug.

'You look funny, Papa!' Rose laughed.

'That's how I look in the morning, petite, especially if I get woken up early,' he said, pretending to be annoyed.

'I'm sorry, Papa,' Rose said, putting her arms around him and kissed him on his forehead.

'It's alright, petite, I love you,' Adam said.

'Hello, my sweet darling,' Belle then said to Rose. Even in the morning, with her hair messed up, she still looked beautiful. Adam smiled at her and gave Belle a deep kiss.

'Hello Mama,' Rose said, crawling into Belle's arms for a cuddle. Belle smiled and held her close, giving her a kiss and stroked her hair.

'My sweet girl,' Belle whispered.

'What got you up so early, petite? We would have expected you to be still in bed! You'll want to be there when Katrine comes and she'll be wondering where you are!' Adam said, 'Provided of course, she hasn't fallen asleep in the dressmaking room again.'

'I wanted to have my cuddle with you and Mama and Lila wanted a cuddle as well, so I gave her one and I heard Grandpapa working on his inventions and he made an explosion and yelled some funny things!' Rose said.

'Did he just?' Adam said.

'Yes, he was really grumpy! Remy was too, when he went to get the water, but only because he hadn't had his coffee!' Rose laughed, as did her parents. She then climbed into the bed and snuggled up to her parents, who held her close and drifted off into some sort of slumber.

'Laundry!' a familiar, loud voice interrupted, 'I'm here to collect your laundry!'

'Come in, Remy,' Adam said, with a hint of irritation in his voice. Remy entered to collect the hampers filled with the laundry to take down with him. He sounded like his usual self and, remembering his manners, bowed.

'Good morning, Master, Mistress and Princess,' he said in his most respectful voice which he used when he was around his masters, as he collected Belle and Adam's hampers.

'Good morning, Remy,' Belle said, 'Have you had your coffee yet?'

'Sure have, Mistress and I'm feeling great and ready to take on the day!' Remy said, grinning, concealing the fact that his day had started badly with Rebecca slapping him in the face, Lumiere taunting him and arguing with George.

'Thank you, Remy, that'll be all,' Adam said, dismissing him, 'And try not to harass Rebecca!' Rose giggled, as Remy hastily bowed and left the room.

Less than two minutes later, Katrine's voice could be heard and it sounded like she was worried about something. Madame Armoire's voice joined hers.

'Katrine, what's wrong, dearie?'

'Aunt Estelle! I can't find the princess! I went into her room and she wasn't there! What if something has happened to her? I mean, really bad? What will I tell the masters?'

'Calm down, dearie, I'm sure the princess is still in the castle. She couldn't have gone far. Wait, why don't you check the masters' bedroom? The princess usually goes in there in the mornings.'

'Oh, of course, how silly of me! Thank you, Aunt Estelle, I seem to have a head like a sieve today!' Katrine laughed.

'I'm not surprised due to the lack of sleep you're getting. It's wonderful that you're so dedicated to your work but please remember to take breaks and go to your own bed at nights, instead of sleeping in your workroom! I don't want to constantly worry about you, dearie.' Madame Armoire said.

'I'll try, Aunt Estelle, but I just love my work so much! It keeps me busier than a one armed paper hanger! And after all, busy hands are happy hands!' Katrine replied. Her speech was usually peppered with clichés and metaphors which some didn't understand or took literally.

And it was true that Katrine was a hard worker, hardly ever stopping for breaks and would do all-nighters with garments that she would forget to go to bed, instead sleeping in the workroom.

Pushing her reddish brown hair out of her face, wiping sleep from her eyes and smoothing down her green dress with its layer on top, to make herself presentable and not looking like she slept in her clothes, she approached the bedroom and knocked on the door.

'Enter,' came Belle's voice. Her cue to enter, Katrine did so and to her relief, found Rose snuggled up in her parents' bed. Katrine smiled, gave a quick yawn which she hid and, nearly forgetting her manners, quickly curtsied.

'Good morning, Master, Mistress and Princess,' she said, 'Forgive my tiredness, I stayed up late last night working on a new dress and fell asleep in my workroom and Aunt Estelle has already lectured me about it, so I don't really need to hear it again.'

'That's alright, Katrine, you're forgiven, but you should take breaks and you don't have to work at night. You're a hard worker and you make the most wonderful garments, but please don't overdo it. It's not good for you.' Belle said.

'Yes, Mistress,' Katrine said.

'I'm sorry I made you worry, Katrine,' Rose said.

'That's alright, Princess, I don't seem to be thinking straight. I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached. Now, let's get you dressed and ready for breakfast. Rebecca's making your favourite today- cherry vanilla porridge!' Katrine said.

'Oh, I love cherry vanilla porridge! Come on, Katrine, we need to get going!' Rose said, jumping out of the bed and literally dragging Katrine by the hand to her room. Belle and Adam chuckled.

'What a sweet little girl we have,' they said.

* * *

><p>Back in her room, with Katrine's help and wanting a comfortable, casual outfit suitable for playing games outside, as she was planning to do so with Chip later on, when he was done in the kitchen, Rose picked out what she wanted to wear.<p>

She chose a white long-sleeved shirt, a dark blue bodice with a light blue rose and little green leaves on it, a knee-length sky blue skirt that was not too long or short and would make running around outside playing tag much easier, white stockings and flat brown shoes with bows on them.

Katrine then did up her hair in a half-ponytail held by a dark blue bow to match the bodice.

Dressed for the day, and with Katrine leaving to do her work, Rose straightened out her bed, placing Rebby in the middle and headed off to the small dining room where she, her parents and grandfather had breakfast.

On the way there, she met her father, who was wearing a loose white shirt, his black trousers and brown boots, which was his own casual outfit, and he effortlessly hoisted her on his shoulders and ran down the stairs, with Rose shrieking with laughter and to be met at the bottom by Cogsworth, who had a disapproving look on his face.

In the dining room, Belle was already there, waiting for them, wearing her pink dress, with Mrs Potts just coming in with the tea tray.

Maurice appeared briefly to give his wife a warm hug and kiss, say hello to his family, give his granddaughter a hug and kiss as well, before grabbing his bowl of porridge and a cup of tea that had already been prepared for him and going back to his workroom.

Rose took her place in the middle of the table, with Adam on one end and Belle on the other as Rebecca came in, wheeling a trolley with the porridge, sugar bowl, cream pitcher, a bowl with diced cherries in it and three serving bowls on it. The delicious smell of cherry vanilla entered Rose's nostrils, making her sigh in pleasure.

'That looks so good,' she said to herself, eager to dig in, but, as she knew well, she had to wait until everyone had been served, as a proper princess should. Cogsworth had stressed that enough before.

'Would you like your cocoa, dear?' Mrs Potts said to Rose. She, Chip and Sophie were the only servants that didn't call her 'Princess' or 'Mistress' (the latter was used when she was left in charge of the castle when her parents went away), as they were family and Sophie was her friend.

Apart from Remy and Sophie, Rose was also the only one who didn't have tea, preferring cocoa.

'Yes, please Nana,' Rose said, polite as ever. Mrs Potts smiled and poured the hot water out of the teapot and mixed it with the cocoa powder in the cup.

'Here you are, dear, nice and hot, just as you like it,' Mrs Potts then said, 'Be careful not to spill it, you don't want to get burnt like Raymond did yesterday when he had his tea.'

'Thank you, Nana' Rose said, taking the cup gently and took a small sip.

'Such a sweet girl,' Mrs Potts said, before giving Belle and Adam their tea and going back into the kitchen.

'Your porridge, Princess,' Rebecca said, serving it up and putting some of the diced cherries on top, 'Would you also like some of my cherry sugar? How about some cream as well?'

'Just the cherry sugar, please Rebecca,' Rose said. Rebecca nodded and sprinkled some on the porridge, before placing it in front of the princess, who looked at it so hungrily.

'Thank you, Rebecca, it looks so delicious!' she exclaimed.

'I'm glad, Princess, I know it's your favourite,' Rebecca said and went on to give the king and queen their porridge.

Once the porridge was served, Rose, at long last, could eat and she did, savouring every mouthful, listening to her parents' conversation and thinking about the fun day she was going to have, not knowing that in a few hours, her life would be changed.


	4. Chapter 4

When breakfast was over, Rose went over to the main foyer to wait for Chip to finish up in the kitchen, so they could go out and play, while it was still nice out. Very soon, however, she got bored waiting and decided to go wandering to pass the time.

As she went up the stairs, she was in the East Wing and found Raymond and Amelie's art studio. She peeked through the door and found Raymond busy carving a stone sculpture, Amelie was piecing together some broken plates and Sophie was lying on the floor, drawing what looked like some shapeless blobs with her crayons.

'Good morning, Aunt Amelie, Uncle Raymond and Sophie,' Rose said from the doorway. They immediately turned around and bowed, with Raymond knocking over an easel as he did so, and then resumed their work.

'Good morning, Princess' Amelie said, painting a border on the plate she was holding.

'Morning, Princess,' Raymond said, not looking at what he was doing and hit his thumb with the hammer he was using.

'YEOWWW! MY THUMB!' he yelled, before sucking it.

'Oh, Raymond, not again! That's the sixteenth time you've done this! I told you not to do the sculptures, especially after you broke both your thumbs the last time! And don't try to deny it, because I've got it written in my journal!' Amelie said, sighing.

'Which one, cherie?' Raymond said, with a surprising hint of sarcasm, looking at the shelves with various books, no doubt filled with entries of accidents he had over the years.

'Any one really, I can't remember, but its there somewhere.' Amelie said, getting up from the table, her dress swishing around her ankles, and tended to his latest injury.

'Honestly, Raymond, can't you go at least _one day _without injuring yourself or breaking things? Already, you've had eight accidents today and it's not even midday!' Amelie said.

'Don't start, Amelie,' Raymond said, 'and I'll thank you if you didn't keep track of all my accidents!'

Sophie then eased the tension, by chirping

'Hi, Rose! Come look at my drawing!' as she showed it to her.

'Sophie, you don't call the princess by her name, it's bad manners. You should know that.' Amelie scolded.

'But it's okay, she's my friend!' Sophie said.

'It's alright, Aunt Amelie, she's allowed to call me by my name.' Rose said, as she often felt uncomfortable when her friends referred to her by her title and wanted them just to call her Rose.

'What do you think of my drawing, Rose? Isn't it pretty?' Sophie then said, giving the picture to Rose.

'It's…very nice, Sophie,' Rose said, faltering, upon seeing the blobs but trying not to hurt Sophie's feelings, 'what is it supposed to be?'

'It's me, you and Chip playing together outside in the garden!' Sophie said, pointing to various blobs on the paper.

'That's lovely darling,' Raymond said, calm again and with his thumb bandaged up, as he looked at the picture. Sophie giggled.

'Oh, dear, Uncle Raymond, have you hurt yourself again? 'said Rose.

'I'm afraid so, but don't worry, Princess, it's just harmless tomfoolery.' Raymond said.

'Speaking of playing, are we going out to play with Chip today?' Sophie asked, 'As much as I like to stay with Mama and Papa and draw, I want to go out on this lovely day!'

Rose thought for a minute. She had originally planned to play with just Chip but it wouldn't be fair if Sophie was left out and the most fun that she had playing games was with her two best friends. She was sure that Chip wouldn't mind, since he had a soft spot for Sophie.

'Of course, Sophie, you can come out and play with us. Chip won't mind one bit.' Rose said.

'Yay! Thank you, Rose; you're the best friend ever!' Sophie squealed, hugging Rose.

'That would be wonderful, Princess,' Amelie said, 'Raymond and I have a lot of work to do today and I want to paint that portrait for the guest bedroom near us that I've meant to do, so we won't have time to keep Sophie amused and out of trouble, which I'm sure you and Chip will do.'

'We will, Aunt Amelie,' Rose said.

'Thank you, Princess, we really appreciate it,' Amelie said.

Then Chip's voice could be heard downstairs.

'Rose!' he called, 'I'm finished in the kitchen! Are you ready to go outside?'

'Oh, look at that!' Rose said, 'we better get going, Sophie, Chip's waiting for us!'

'Okay, see you later, Mama and Papa!' Sophie said and followed Rose, while Raymond continued on his sculpture (and hit his other thumb) and Amelie finished the plates and wrote a new entry in her journal-

'October the twenty-third. Raymond had eight accidents before midday and hit both his thumbs while working on a sculpture, despite what I told him before. He hasn't learned from earlier experience!'

* * *

><p>'There you are, Rose! I was wondering where you got to! I finished ten minutes ago.' Chip said, as Rose and Sophie came down the stairs to meet him near the main doors.<p>

'Sorry, Chip, I got bored waiting for you and decided to pass the time and I went into the art studio.' Rose said, 'Oh is it okay if Sophie comes too? Her parents are busy working and she wants to play with us.'

Chip gave a small grimace. It wasn't that he didn't like Sophie, far from it, but she never got the rules of any game they played and was too energetic.

When they played hide and seek or tag, she would always be the first to be found or caught and cry about it. However, since Rose wanted to her to join them and she being one of the masters of the castle, his step-niece and best friend, he couldn't refuse her, and put on a smile.

'Of course, Princess, Sophie can come and play with us,' Chip said. Sophie gave him a huge hug, while Rose grimaced at hearing 'Princess'.

'Chip, you know you don't have to call me 'Princess'. You're my step-uncle and best friend. Just call me Rose, I don't feel comfortable with my friends calling me by my title.' Rose said.

'Sorry, Pri-Rose, force of habit,' Chip said, embarrassed, 'Come on, let's go out and play while it's still nice out. We wouldn't want to waste it, wouldn't we?'

'No, we don't' both girls said.

Belle and Cogsworth came into the main foyer, she on her way to the library, he was going to the West Wing to work with Adam on his correspondence and answering letters from neighbouring regions and kingdoms.

'We're going out to play now, Mama and Uncle Cogsworth,' Rose said.

'Have fun, you three,' Belle said, as she gave the children a hug and gave her daughter a warm hug and kiss, 'I'll see you later, darling. Love you!' to Rose

'Love you too, Mama.' Rose said, as she watched her mother head off.

'Chip, keep an eye on the princess and Sophie. And remember to stay within the castle grounds. Don't wander off.' Cogsworth warned them.

'We won't,' all three chirped, as they went out the door.

'They'll be fine, Cogsworth, there's nothing to worry about. Chip is a very responsible young man; he'll take good care of them.' Mrs Potts said, coming through, wheeling the tea-tray.

'Yeah, Mrs P's right, I mean, what's the worst that could happen?' Remy said, while carrying laundry hampers.

'You should NEVER ask that question, Remy! Because ANYTHING can happen, mark my words!' Cogsworth snapped.

'Come on, Remy, the laundry isn't going to do itself, you know!' George called from the laundry room.

'I wish it did,' Remy muttered to himself, as he and everyone else left to resume their work, leaving Cogsworth getting tangled up by Sultan and Lila chasing each other.

He fell down on the ground and sneezed since Lila was on top of his head. She then jumped off as Sultan barked at her, revealing Cogsworth's baldness to his embarrassment and hopped on her favourite cushion on the windowsill.

'Darn cat,' Cogsworth said, as he grabbed his hairpiece, sneezed twice and walked off in a huff, while Lila hissed at Sultan, who yipped in response and went outside, and settled down to sleep.

* * *

><p>In the gardens, with Sultan in the background sniffing and digging in the flowerbeds, Rose, Chip and Sophie were deciding what games to play, and so far, hadn't agreed on anything.<p>

'How about we play tag?' Chip suggested.

'No,' both girls said.

'Chase Sultan?'

'He's too busy digging in the garden!'

'Oh, Bert's not going to like that!' said Chip, seeing the dog's 'handiwork', knowing that the gardener would have a fit if he saw it.

'Hopscotch?'

'No girls' games!'

'We can go on the swing,' Rose said.

'Too boring!'

'We can go swimming in the lake!' Sophie said.

'It's October, Soph, it's freezing cold! No one goes swimming in autumn, you'll be crazy to!' Chip said.

'How about a tea party?' Rose suggested.

'Oh, no! I draw the line at tea parties!' Chip said, 'Maybe you and Sophie can, but it's not for me! Besides, I already said, no girls' games!'

Having made no progress, the three sat in silence. Then Rose said,

'How about we play hide and seek?'

'That's a great idea, Princess- I mean Rose. We haven't played that for a while,' Chip said, 'Is that okay with you, Sophie?'

'Yes, I love hide and seek!' Let's play!' Sophie said.

To decide who would be the 'seeker' and who would hide, they played 'Rock, Paper , Scissors' which took about fifteen minutes (due to Sophie not getting the rules and using 'rock' every time) Rose and Sophie were to hide and Chip was to be the seeker.

'One, two three…' he counted behind a tree, as the girls went to hide. Sophie chose a bush near where her mother was on a balcony, painting.

'Sophie! What are you up to, sweetheart?' she said, looking down at her.

'I'm hiding, Mama! Don't tell Chip I'm here! We're playing hide and seek!' Sophie said.

'How fun!' Amelie said and resumed her painting.

Rose, meanwhile had wandered off from the garden, into the woods, determined to find a good hiding place, despite what Cogsworth had said earlier, but she didn't go too far, as she could still hear Chip counting, so she could find her way back easily. She found a small garden quite close to the castle, which had a little red cottage beside it, but it didn't seem to have anyone living in it, at least that was Rose thought when she looked in the window and the garden itself looked horribly neglected, save for a few bushes full of roses.

'Ready or not, here I come!' came the voice of Chip nearby. Quickly, Rose found a small rose bush and hid underneath it, so as not to get her clothes torn and dirty.

'No one will find me here,' she said, unaware that in the cottage, contrary to her belief, a mysterious, sinister figure was watching her.

* * *

><p>Chip then started his search for his friends. Walking around the garden, he was getting fed up. He was hoping that it would be like it usually was, with Sophie finding a pathetically easy place to hide and being found first. But it seemed this time they were getting smarter. He saw Sultan still digging in the flowerbeds, and then being chased by Bert, his face red with anger as he waved his spade around.<p>

'You miserable mutt, get back here! I'll teach you to dig in the flowers!'

Chip laughed to himself and kept on searching, not aware that Rose had gone out of the garden into the woods. He then saw Amelie painting, holding her palette with paints that matched the blobs on her apron.

'Amelie, have you seen Sophie and Rose anywhere?' he asked her.

'Why no, Chip, I haven't,' Amelie said in mock surprise. Just then, the bush where Sophie was hiding moved.

'Found you, Sophie!' Rose heard Chip say, as she lay under the rose bush. She gave a small chuckle.

'You got to do better than that, Sophie,' she said to herself. She then heard Chip say,

'Sophie, do you know where Rose went hiding?'

'No Chip, I just thought she would be still in the garden. She wouldn't go that far.'

'Come on, we better go look for her.'

As she waited for Chip and Sophie to find her, in the bush, something suddenly caught her attention. Amongst the plain pink roses on teal green stems, one single rose stood out, giving off a bright pink glow with white sparkles, almost like dew. And it was enticing Rose, drawing her closer, as if to say 'Pick me,'

'What a beautiful rose!' she said, getting nearer to it. Yes, it was beautiful, but there was something about it that seemed familiar to her but she couldn't remember it, something that she heard her parents and servants talk about, but think nothing of it.

But she wanted to pick it so much, the glow drawing her in, her arm reached out and.. Her fingers wrapped around the stem and for a moment, she hesitated. _What if it had thorns?_ she wondered.

The last time she had wanted and tried to pick a rose, the thorns scratched her hand, leaving a cut which hurt terribly and she sat crying on her mother's lap while Nana and Babette tended to her wound and told her not to pick roses with her hands again and to be careful handling them because of the thorns.

However, although this rose did indeed have thorns, they did not hurt when she touched them, so it was safe to pick. The flower itself wasn't fully bloomed, its petals only slightly open, but since it gave off a glow, it probably didn't matter.

It was like a magic rose, which made the desire to pick it even stronger for Rose, who had her fingers now firmly wrapped around the stem, tugging it slightly.

_Wait! _Rose had another thought, _What if it belonged to someone? _The bushes were well looked after, the only healthy plants in the otherwise overgrown, neglected garden, so the rose could well be someone's.

Then again, it couldn't. There was no one in the cottage, she had seen that for herself and there were plenty of roses in the bushes, so what if one would be missing? It'll grow back and it had been well hidden in the bush, so no one would ever know.

'Do I dare?' Rose whispered, 'Do I dare pick this rare rose?'

The desire in the end proved too strong for the princess, and without any more thoughts (or common sense), she gently pulled at the stem, until the rose completely came away from the bush, still glowing, still perfect and had no ill-effects of being plucked prematurely and when Rose checked her hands for any scratches, the rose levitated in the air, like magic.

As soon as she picked the flower, the sky turned from sunny and blue to dark grey clouds, with thunder booming, like something nasty was brewing in the air.

'Found you!' Chip said, approaching Rose, startling her, Sophie behind him. Rose quickly hid her flower behind her back, hoping that Chip hadn't seen it, but he seemed more annoyed at having to go out of the grounds to find her, than what she had hidden behind her.

'Why did you go here?' he said, annoyed, 'You were supposed to stay in the garden! It's dangerous out in the woods! What if I wasn't able to find you?'

'I'm sorry, Chip, I didn't mean to go that far. It's still near the garden and I was able to hear you and Sophie and nothing bad happened to me.' Rose said.

'I suppose so. Still, you're safe and well, seems no harm was done. Just don't do it again, all right? I promise I won't tell Cogsworth.' Chip said, not wanting to add more strain to Cogsworth's already high blood pressure if he were to know that they disobeyed him.

'Thanks, Chip,' Rose said, gratefully.

'Come on, let's go back home. The weather looks really nasty and we don't want to get caught in the storm.' Chip said and the trio made their way to the castle, unaware that the figure in the cottage had actually seen Rose take its most precious possession the enchanted rose it had hidden in the bush and was watching them leave, in anger.

'You, Princess Rose, have made a very big mistake,' the figure said in a malicious female voice, 'a mistake that will cost you dearly.'

* * *

><p>At the moment that Rose had picked the flower, there was a disturbance among the servants in the castle, one that made them stand still and have an uneasy feeling, as they saw the sky turn dark.<p>

'Aunt Estelle, are you alright?' Katrine said, seeing Madame Armoire stand still and flinch, while arranging a half-made dress on a mannequin.

'Oh, yes, dearie, I just had a bad feeling of déjà vu.' Madame said, 'Like something is wrong.'

'Are you remembering the enchantment again? Is that it?' Katrine asked.

'Maybe,' Madame said.

'It's just a bad memory, Aunt Estelle, that's all. I'm sure it's nothing, there's no way that another enchantment can happen, can it?' Katrine said, although her aunt didn't look convinced at her reply.

'Mrs Potts, what's the matter? Is something troubling you?' Rebecca asked Mrs Potts, who had a tense look on her face, as she poured the tea. Rebecca was holding a ragdoll she had made and had been going to the kitchen to do her duties when she saw Mrs Potts.

'This is just like what happened last time. Something bad is going to happen. I only hope Chip, the princess and Sophie come back soon, safe and sound.' Mrs Potts said.

'What is?' Rebecca said, worried, but got no response.

'Oh, shoot, the weather's changed and I didn't even get to finish my painting!' Amelie said, frustrated as she put her palette away.

'That's a shame,' Raymond said, carrying an easel, 'Hope the children come back before it rains, wouldn't want them to get caught in the storm.'

'Let's hope so,' Amelie said. She then saw Babette looking dazed outside the studio, Lumiere comforting her.

_'__Ma cherie,_ what is wrong?

'Lumiere, I just had a horrible feeling! Something sinister is in the air that I don't know , but I'm so scared!'

'Don't worry, Babette, I'm here to comfort you, _non_?' and Lumiere started to kiss Babette, making her giggle.

'Why don't you do that to me, Raymond?' Amelie said, 'Act all affectionate towards me like Lumiere does to Babette?'

'I do!' Raymond said defensively.

'Anyway,' Amelie continued, 'Is it just me, or is everyone acting strange?'

'Only Mrs Potts, Lumiere, Cogsworth, Babette and Madame Amoire are. Do you think that it has something to do with…'

' No that's just a silly tale. It didn't really happen, the sky is just messing with them that's all. Imagine being scared of a fairy tale, I mean, how ridiculous is that?'

'You're absolutely right dear,' said Raymond, although he didn't sound sure at all.

'Oh dear,' Cogsworth muttered, as he walked down the West Wing, 'History is about to repeat itself.'

'Have you noticed, Georgie that Lumsie, Cogsie, Mrs P, Babs and Moiry have gone into wacko mode?' Remy said to George, as he washing some sheets with his washboard, which he called 'Fifi' (for reasons unknown only to him) 'I mean one minute they seem to be fine and the next thing- wham! They're mindless zombies! What's up with them?'

'I don't know Remy, your guess is as good as mine,' George said, wringing out some shirts into a washtub. The two men didn't say anything more, as they carried on with their work.

Even Adam felt a disturbance in his study, as he was writing a letter to a king of a neighbouring region about a trading deal, making him shiver and sick to his stomach.

'Adam, darling, what's wrong?' Belle said, concerned, as she went over to him.

'I have a bad feeling,' he managed to say, holding Belle close to him.

'About what?' Belle said, starting to feel uneasy as well.

'About history repeating itself,' he said, 'and it involves our daughter.'


	5. Chapter 5

As quickly as it came, the disturbance felt by everyone went away and they were now concerned about the children getting back safely, as the sky was worsening and the thunder was getting louder but strangely, it did not rain.

Cogsworth, his stress levels through the roof, was considering sending out a search party to go look for the children but before he could do so, the main doors opened revealing Rose, Chip and Sophie.

'There you are!' Mrs Potts said, approaching them, 'It's alright, Cogsworth, they're back safe and sound. I told you everything would be fine. Chip kept an eye on them and made sure they were safe, didn't you, son?'

Chip just nodded.

'I suppose so, Mrs Potts,' Cogsworth said, not convinced. He then turned to the children. Rose gave Chip a worried look, but he gave her a reassuring smile, as he promised not to tell.

'Did you stay in the garden like I told you to?' Cogsworth said, his face close to the children.

'Yes,' all three said.

'You didn't go off into the woods or the glade or anywhere dangerous?' he then said.

'No' all three said, even though it wasn't entirely true.

Cogsworth could sense they were lying as he noticed that Rose's right arm was tucked back which looked suspicious, but he decided not to press the matter further seeing that Chip had got them back safely, so he went back upstairs to the West Wing, Sophie following him, to see her parents in their studio and Chip went back into the kitchen, leaving Rose alone in the foyer.

Certain that no-one was around, except for Lila, who was sleeping on her cushion near the windowsill, Rose sat down next to her cat, stroked her and pulled the rose from behind her, its glow lighting up the dark room.

She felt guilty about lying to Cogsworth and Chip having to lie for her, but she soon forgot that when she looked at her very own rose, admiring its beauty.

The perfect pink petals, the pearly, sparkly dew-like drops on them, the teal green stem with luscious leaves and thorns that didn't scratch her hand and how it levitated in the air. It would look so lovely on her vanity table in her room and she couldn't wait to show it to her parents.

'What have you got there, Princess?' said Rebecca, passing through with the tea trolley.

'Nothing!' Rose said, hastily hiding the flower, hoping that Rebecca hadn't seen it, under a cushion but by doing so, made it levitate and gave Rebecca a glimpse of the rose.

'Doesn't look like nothing,' she said, but Rose's expression on her face convinced her not to say anything more, so she continued on her way, running into Lumiere.

'Oh, hello Lumiere,' said Rebecca, 'Say, I didn't know roses could levitate and glow.'

'They don't,' Lumiere responded nervously, 'Why did you ask that mademoiselle Rebecca?'

'I'm sure it's nothing, but I saw the princess with a rose and I thought I could see it glow before she hid it under a cushion, like she didn't want me to see it.'

'Did she?' said Lumiere, sounding both suspicious and afraid.

Once the two servants were out of sight, Rose quickly got her flower out from under the cushion, worried that it would be crushed and ruined, but it was still perfect, still glowing and not one single petal had a crumple. Now Rose really was convinced that it was a magic flower.

* * *

><p>Sometime later, two familiar voices were heard coming down the stairs, which Rose went to the foot, eager to meet them.<p>

'Mama! Papa!' she said, walking (princesses _never _ran inside, as Cogsworth told her many times before) to them, careful to hide the rose, as she didn't want them to see it yet.

'Hello, darling!' they both said, just as eager to see her and scooped her up in their arms and hugged her.

'Did you have fun with Chip and Sophie today?' Belle asked, as Rose was now in her arms.

'Yes I did!' said Rose, eager to tell her parents about her day, 'We played hide and seek, Sophie and I hid while Chip was seeking and he found her first since she doesn't find very good hiding places and then he found me! Then the weather changed and we had to come back home.'

'Sounds like you had a fun day, petite,' Adam said, 'Sometimes I wish I could go out and play with you instead of having to do boring things like writing letters and listen to Cogsworth drone on and on.'

Rose giggled at that. Then she remembered what she had wanted to show her parents.

'Oh, and I found this pretty glowing rose!' she said, showing it to them.

'Look at it, Mama, isn't it pretty?'

'It's …lovely, Rose, just like you,' Belle said. Normally, she would laugh at this little joke and the one about 'Rose picking herself!' (which Remy unsurprisingly came up with and wasn't really funny), but she felt uneasy, without really knowing why.

Adam, however, grimaced at seeing the rose. Even though he had come to love roses again, especially since they were his daughter's namesake and was significant in his and Belle's courtship, this particular one brought back bad memories.

The old beggar woman offering the enchanted rose to him in exchange for shelter, him arrogantly refusing, the Enchantress appearing to him, him begging her for forgiveness, the agonising transformation into the Beast, spending ten terrible years trapped in that monstrous form in isolation and seeing each petal fall about to seal his fate and trying to hang on to his fading humanity.

He had hoped never to experience that again and yet his own precious daughter, whom he loved with all his heart, was holding one exactly like it. That was what he was afraid of, the bad feeling he had before.

'Where did you get this, Rose?' he said.

'I found it,' Rose replied.

'Where did you find it?' Adam then asked. Rose gulped. She couldn't tell them otherwise they would know and she would get into trouble.

'I..' Rose tried to explain, but was suddenly interrupted by a huge gust of wind opening the doors, with a red shadowy figure entering.

'You wicked, disobedient girl!' the figure shouted as two glowing red eyes glared menacingly at the princess, who looked at it, confused.

'How dare you pick my roses!' it then said, maliciously and angrily, 'Especially my most precious possession, the one thing I value most in the world- the very enchanted rose you have in your grubby little human hand! I had that hidden in that bush to protect it and you snuck into my garden and stole it!'

'Rose?' Belle and Adam looked at her, confused.

'I'm sorry, I didn't know!' Rose said, clearly terrified, 'I thought that there was no one in that cottage and garden in the woods-'

'You went into the woods?' they said. Rose nodded glumly.

'But I didn't go that far, I could still hear Chip nearby, I just wanted to find a good hiding place. I'm sorry I did that and lied to Cogsworth about it,' she said.

Adam and Belle didn't know how to respond. Given the situation they were in and Rose probably didn't know better , they decided to see it as an innocent mistake, but the figure obviously saw it anything but.

'Oh, you thought that there was no-one there, did you? And you thought that gave you the right to steal from me? Well, you guessed wrong, you little brat and you will now pay the price!'

'She's just a little girl! She didn't know any better!' Adam shouted, his temper starting to show.

'Mama?' Rose said, looking at Belle and still holding the now fatal rose.

'It's alright, my sweet darling,' Belle said, holding her daughter tightly, determined to protect her. She then approached the figure calmly and said, in her most queenly voice-

'Please forgive our daughter, as she did not mean to offend you by taking what you hold dear.'

'You, Queen Belle, are very quick to flatter with excuses and apologies,' the figure said, its anger not lessened by Belle's speech, 'However, I despise flattery and I'm afraid that will not save your daughter from the punishment she deserves.'

Upon hearing that, Belle shrieked in anguish and held Rose even tighter, the princess visibly scared but not really understanding what was going on, with Adam putting his arms firmly around them.

'No, please, please!' Belle said, terrified, 'Please spare our daughter! She doesn't deserve this!'

'Who are you? Why are you threating us?' Adam growled, which was reminiscent of the Beast. The figure said nothing.

'Show yourself, you coward!' he then shouted.

'Very well, King Adam,' it said and suddenly, the room glowed a brilliant red, as the figure transformed into a beautiful woman, much like the Enchantress, but instead had red wavy hair that came down to her shoulders in a half-ponytail with orange and white blonde tones (the orange in the middle, white blonde down the bottom). A silver crown with red rubies sat atop her head. She had ivory-white skin, red eyes with a malicious look in them, the same ones that looked at Rose and cruel red lips.

She wore a deep red dress with an elaborate rose pattern and wore a ruby necklace. In her hand, she was holding an amber wand with a red handle, a ruby jewel on top with two topazes on either side of it.

If Adam and Belle thought that the Enchantress, Gaston and Anton had terrified them, they paled in comparison to this creature, whose appearance and manner were nothing but pure evil, an evil that was looking down on them, but solely on the terrified young princess.

'I am the Red Enchantress,' she said, 'the most powerful magical being who ever lived.'

* * *

><p>The commotion that was going on in the castle did not go unnoticed by the servants, who had heard Belle's shrieks, Adam shouting and the voice of the Red Enchantress and decided to intervene, not regarding the fact that their <em>own lives <em>would be at risk also.

'Now wait just a minute!' Cogsworth huffed, as he tried to catch up to them, as they ran from various rooms and directions, 'We can't barge in like this! We don't know who we're dealing with!'

'The masters and the princess are in trouble, Cogsworth, we have to save them!' said Lumiere, as he and the others approached the foyer, many of them forgetting their manners, when they saw the masters.

'Where are your manners?' shouted Cogsworth. Even in a dire situation like this, they still needed to respect their masters.

'Manners be darned, Cogsie!' Remy shouted, 'This is important!'

Even in his workroom, Maurice had heard what was going on and, fearing the worst, rushed out to his family's side.

As the servants and Maurice entered the foyer, they were shocked and horrified at what they saw- a mysterious magical woman (judging by the red glow around her and the wand she had) towering over Belle and Adam, threating them and a defenceless, frightened Rose, clinging to them while still holding the rose, which she had thought was beautiful and hers to keep, had now proved to be dangerous.

It had not only put her life in danger, but also the lives of those she loved dearly- her parents, grandparents, friends and servants.

Lila and Sultan, sensing danger, hissed and growled at the Red Enchantress, who in turn released a powerful blast from her wand, which made them yip and yowl (Lila at having the tip of her tail singed) and jump on the footstool and cushion.

'Lila!' Rose yelled, seeing her beloved cat's tail get singed and tried to reach out to her, but she was being firmly gripped by her mother and couldn't, only looking sadly.

'You hurt my cat!' she then wailed to the Red Enchantress, who only just glared at her.

'Don't make this worse for yourself,' she said. Maurice and Mrs Potts moved closer to their family, scared but determined to protect them, the others following suit.

'What's going on here?' Maurice, said confused, but got no answer.

Upon seeing the Red Enchantress, memories of the enchantment and the attempted regicide by Anton came flooding back and they felt exactly as they did then- helpless, scared and terrified about what might happen and hoping that no harm came to them. They whispered to each other-

'Is that who I think it is?'

'No, it can't be!'

'Ahhhhh! Anton's come back from the grave and is seeking revenge on us!'

'Don't be stupid, Remy! Would Anton be glowing red, have an OBVIOUSLY womanly figure, have glowing eyes and a magic wand?'

'No, he wouldn't'

'Then, it's not him!'

'Is it the Enchantress?'

'No, she has blonde hair and wears green. This one doesn't, so it can't be her.'

'Then who is she and why did she come here?'

'What does she want with the masters and the princess?'

They didn't know who this being was (as it wasn't the Enchantress who cursed them years ago) or how she found the castle or what Rose or her parents had done to offend her yet she terrified them too, just as the Enchantress did.

For those who hadn't been around when the enchantment happened and when told about it, dismissed it as nothing more than a silly tale, not really believing it (except for Katrine), they didn't understand what was going on and assumed that it was a strange hallucination or a bad dream.

'Is that an enchantress standing in front of us?' said George.

'Either that or we're part of Katrine's hallucination from lack of sleep,' said Rebecca, hoping it was the latter.

But the Red Enchantress was as real as can be and having finally noticed the servants, glared at them.

'Are these your servants?' she said to Belle and Adam, who nodded.

'Yeah we are, who the heck are you?' Remy blurted out.

'I am the Red Enchantress, you insignificant fool, the most powerful being who ever lived,' the Red Enchantress said, which caused the servants to tremble in fear.

'Ooooh, a freaky magical lady,' Remy taunted, 'I am soooo scared. What are you gonna do, curse us? Go on! Do your worst!'

'Shut up, you idiot!' George hissed, 'Don't provoke her!'

'Doesn't this fool ever shut up?' the Red Enchantress said, irritated.

'Unfortunately not,' replied George.

'Excuse me madam,' said Cogsworth, trying to appease the Red Enchantress, 'but what brings you here to this castle and what have the masters and the princess done to offend you, if you don't mind me asking.'

'Well, your princess, who you all believe to be good, kind, unselfish, unspoiled and respectful, went into my garden in the woods and stole my enchanted rose!' shouted the Red Enchantress. Upon hearing that, the servants gasped in disbelief and turned to Rose.

'I knew it! You deliberately disobeyed me, went into the woods after I specifically told you not to, lied to me about it, picked someone's rose and now look what has happened!' shouted Cogsworth, 'Do you have anything to say for yourself?' he then said to the princess.

'I'm sorry, Uncle Cogsworth, I didn't mean to,' said Rose, ashamed.

'It wasn't her fault,' piped up Sophie, ' We were playing hide and seek, Chip was seeking and Rose went off into the woods to hide without him knowing and we had to go there to look for her.'

'Chip! You were supposed to watch them!' Mrs Potts said, looking at Chip, who had a guilty look on his face.

'Nice work, Chippendale! Some responsible babysitter you are!' said Remy, sarcastically.

'I wasn't to know, wasn't I?' Chip said.

'I'm sure it was a mistake,' said Lumiere, 'The princess wasn't to know that the rose was yours.'

'That may be, but she and all of you who made her what she is- a selfish, spoiled, thieving little brat…'

'No, she isn't! We raised her well! Rose is the kindest, sweetest, most respectful little girl ever and we love her with all our hearts! Please, oh please don't hurt her! Please!' Belle cried, her tears ebbing into Rose's hair, refusing to believe the wicked lies but the malevolent creature wasn't having any of it.

'…will be punished for it,' she continued.

By now, if they weren't already, everyone was now petrified with fear. Was the tale that they had been told about to come true? That what happened in the castle years ago was real? And for those who had been cursed before, was history about to repeat itself?

'Look, lady,' Remy said, coming up close to the Red Enchantress to face her. Whether it was bravery or stupidity (George decided it was the latter), he was flirting with death with this dangerous enchantress, but he didn't seem to care.

'I don't know what you think is going on here, but you shouldn't pick on the princess! What did she ever do to you? Nothing and you're threating her over something totally insignificant!' he said.

'She stole my…'

'So what if she took your rose? You can grow more! I bet you have a whole garden of them and since you're so antsy about one going missing, why didn't you put up a fence around it? Duh!'

'Remy, shut up!' hissed George, while the others made 'don't do it' gestures, which Remy ignored.

'Well, lady, if you're so insistent on punishing us, then feel the wrath of Fifi!' said Remy, pulling out his washboard behind him.

'Oh don't tell me he's going to use that?' muttered Lumiere.

'He calls his washboard 'Fifi'?' said Rebecca.

'Don't ask,' George said. Remy kept pointing his washboard against the Red Enchantress, who was getting fed up with his dithering and pathetic attempt to fight her with a mere washboard.

'ENOUGH!' she shouted and raised her wand and zapped Remy, making him twist and moan in pain, dropping his washboard, to the shock (and some ill-concealed delight at seeing Remy getting zapped) of everyone, who saw how powerful her magic was.

After a few minutes, the smoke cleared and Remy was charred , but was alive and unsure of what had happened to him.

'Is it hot in here or what?' he said, before fainting.

'Too bad that didn't kill him,' said Lumiere.

George said, 'Remy, are you alright?'

Remy gave him a thumbs up, to his relief and he helped him up.

'Now to do what I came here for,' the Red Enchantress said, pointing her wand to Rose, who looked at it in fear.

'Princess Rose,' she began, 'You are nothing more than a shadow of your father's past self, which you have proven by taking my precious enchanted rose,'

'Therefore, I curse your castle and all those who live in it,'

'What does she mean by that?' Raymond whispered to Amelie.

'I don't know, but it doesn't sound good,' Amelie whispered back.

'Mama, Papa, what's going on?' Sophie said, her voice trembling, 'What's that bad lady going to do to us?'

'I'm not sure, darling,' said Amelie, scared but determined to be brave for her daughter. Seeing her fear, she gathered Sophie up in her arms, holding her close. Raymond, frightened beyond belief and shaking all over, held his wife and daughter close and they could feel him shaking.

Servants held each other, terrified of what was about to happen. Remy held on to Rebecca, but she pushed him off, her feelings towards him unchanged despite the circumstances.

Katrine, desperately worried about her aunt, who hadn't come down with the others, tried to run upstairs but couldn't since she was afraid to move.

Adam put his arms tightly around his wife and daughter, protecting them from this malicious creature.

By now, Rose was beginning to understand the consequences of what she had done, seeing the fear in the eyes of her family and servants and the Red Enchantress looking at her viciously like a hunter about to catch its prey.

She wanted to run, but her mother held her tightly. She wanted to scream but couldn't make her mouth move. She buried her head into her mother's chest, hoping that the evil witch would go away and everything would go back to normal, but that made the Red Enchantress even madder.

Her wand raised, she hummed a spell and a white light emerged from it, the same one that cursed Adam and the older servants which had haunted them in nightmares and was about to do the same again.

At first nothing happened, but then Katrine screamed-

'Rebecca! Your hair! It's turning into yarn!'

'Huh?' said Rebecca, confused. She put her hand to her hair and instead of feeling soft waves, she felt coarse, rough yarn and screamed. With Rebecca's screams, it began.

The light surrounded the servants and soon their screams and cries could be heard, loud enough to shatter the windows. Rose tried not to look, but she could see Cogsworth yelping as he jumped over the place, getting smaller and turning into the clock he once was; Lumiere's face melting into wax and his arms turning into candle sticks; Babette's legs turning into feathers, her body becoming thinner like a duster handle and her arms disappearing.

Mrs Potts let out an anguished cry, holding Chip, as their skin turned into china, their noses morphing into a teapot spout and teacup handle.

Elsewhere, Rebecca's hair had completely turned into yarn, pink spots appeared on her cheeks, her hands and fingers merged together and her body became smaller and softer; George was getting wider and his skin was turning into wood with metal rings around him; Remy (the ashes now off his body) felt his legs turn into wood and his shirt ripped to pieces, as metal grooves emerged on his torso.

Raymond ,Amelie and Sophie held on to each other, as they too transformed and Katrine screamed as her legs merged together and turned into wood and her body shifted uncomfortably.

Lila and Sultan were not spared either as they took on the appearance of a footstool (Sultan) and a cushion (Lila), respectively, to the horror of Rose, as their yowls, yips, the screams of the servants and the cruel laugh of the Red Enchantress rang in her ears.

'Mama, Papa, what's happening?' she said. But she got no answer, as she felt herself land on the floor, as Belle was forced to let her go.

When Rose next looked, she screamed, as she saw her mother, father and grandfather turning into stone, yet moving and trying to reach out to her, even though they were becoming less mobile by every second.

'MAMA! PAPA!' she screamed, as she reached out to them.

'ROSE!' they screamed, the last words they spoke before they were turned completely into stone statues. Sobbing hysterically, Rose flung herself at the bottom of the statues, hoping to revive them and end this horrible nightmare.

But no sooner had she done that, she was forcefully flung back on her feet, face to face with the Red Enchantress, who had an evil, sadistic smile on her face, about to deliver the final blow.

'Now for you,' she said, pointing her wand at the frightened princess.

'Please,' she begged, tears streaming down her face, hoping that the Red Enchantress would spare her life and change everyone back.

'You shall be forever known as what you truly are and what your father was before you…A beast,' the Red Enchantress said, while the white light circled around Rose.

She screamed in agony as she withered and moaned in pain, squirming on the floor as she felt the curse take hold and transform her. She felt her arms extend, as light brown fur sprout out of her sleeves, ripping them to shreds, her fingers becoming claws, her skirt ripping, as her legs and feet also turned into claws and grew fur.

She kept screaming, as her face sprouted fur, her nose became snout like, horns grew out of her head, her ears became floppy and velvety, large fangs grew and took up space in her small mouth.

She screamed over and over, hoping that the Red Enchantress, whose sadistic and cruel laugh echoed around her, would end this torture. Then she felt something uncomfortable behind her and she pulled and pulled at it until it came out, which revealed her tail.

She let out a large, terrible animalistic roar, as the transformation was complete and collapsed like a ragdoll on the floor, while the castle reverted back into its gloomy state during the first enchantment, as the Red Enchantress gave one last evil laugh before disappearing completely, leaving nothing more than the enchanted rose.


	6. Chapter 6

When the Red Enchantress had fled and the shock of the transformation had subsided, there was an eerie silence. No one made a sound; no one moved a muscle and no one could see each other in the darkness, so they weren't sure if anyone was still alive. Then-

'Is it over?' Chip's voice said which broke the silence.

'I think so, dear,' Mrs Potts replied, relieved to hear her son's voice.

'Is everyone alright?' said Cogsworth, taking authority. Even though it was dark, he knew that he was a clock again as he could hear the pendulum move back and forward in his chest.

'Yes Cogsworth, from what I can tell,' said Mrs Potts, 'Only I can't see at all in this darkness. We need some light around here.'

'Allow me,' Lumiere said, lighting his candles effortlessly. Once light shone, their worst fears were realised- they were back as the enchanted objects they once were and detested and had hoped never to be them again. Madame Armoire was nowhere to be seen, but was assumed to still be upstairs (and be a wardrobe again).

Worse, they couldn't see the masters, the princess and the other servants, as they heard only their screams and a roar (they immediately thought it was the master turned back into the Beast) and didn't know if they were alright or what they had been turned into.

'Oh, Mon Dieu,' said Lumiere.

'Looks like I'll be sleeping in the cupboard again,' said Chip sounding resigned rather that when he was first transformed, as he had only been a toddler then, not really understanding what was going on and just assumed that he would be changed back soon.

'At least I'm older and wiser about it, so I can handle it better,' he then said, but he felt strange about being a small teacup again, since he was a teenager and not the little boy he once was . It didn't look like his 'cute little teacup' act would work this time.

'That's right dear,' Mrs Potts replied, 'We managed through the first enchantment and we'll handle this one too. We just need to find the others to see if they are alright. Goodness knows what they'll be thinking about this!'

'They'll be thinking, 'Eeeek, I'm an enchanted object! I have no arms and legs! How will I cope with this?' said Chip, laughing, earning him a stern stare from his mother.

'Now Chip that was not called for,' Mrs Potts said.

'Sorry, Mama,' said Chip.

'What you said before is a good idea, Mrs Potts,' said Babette, 'they've never experienced the enchantment and they'll be frightened and shocked so we need to help them adjust to their new forms.'

'But we don't know what they turned into. We must find them at once, and the masters and princess of course,' said Lumiere.

'Oh, yes, we mustn't forget them,' Mrs Potts said.

Cogsworth, meanwhile, was muttering to himself, 'Oh dear, oh dear, here we go again,' unable to get his head around what had happened.

Eight years of living peacefully as a human, hoping to put the terrible enchantment behind him, with no more enchantresses appearing, no magic and no threat to the masters and the princess, except for Anton and his mob and this had to come along.

Why did the princess wander into the woods? Why did she have to pick that rose? Why did she make that evil enchantress appear to them and turn them back to what they had been?

And more importantly, how did that enchantress know that spell in the first place? And what was she doing in the forest? There were many questions that would probably be unanswered and it was more than he could bear.

'Cogsworth,' Lumiere called out to him, but Cogsworth took no notice, lost in his thoughts

'Cogsworth,' Still no reply

'COGSWORTH!'

Hearing Lumiere shout (which was incredibly rare for him) made Cogsworth snap out of his trance.

'What is it, Lumiere?' he said, annoyed.

'We need to find the others to see if they are alright and what they have been turned into and they'll need your guidance to help them adjust,' said Lumiere.

'Oh, yes of course,' Cogsworth said, falteringly. He was also annoyed that Lumiere had seemed to taken charge behind his back, when he really should be doing that, in the absence of the masters.

After all, he was the majordomo, wherever he was human or a clock and he certainly was not going to take orders from a waxy- headed idiot like Lumiere. It didn't work like that, never had and never will.

'Alright, everyone,' he said, resuming authority which earned him a scowl from Lumiere and everyone's attention, 'Let's split up and look for the others. Maybe they can hear our voices if we call out, making it easier to find them.'

'Right,' they said and Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs Potts, Chip and Babette hopped and shuffled (having relearnt how to do that quite quickly) all over the foyer calling out:

'Master?'

'Mistress?'

'Princess?'

'Monsieur Maurice?'

'Madame Armoire'?

'Rebecca?'

'Katrine?'

'George?'

'Remy?'

'Hey, idiot, where are you?' Lumiere then called out.

'Excuse me?' said Cogsworth

'I wasn't talking to you, Cogsworth! I was calling out to Remy, as that is what I call him!'

'That may be, but you really shouldn't, it's disrespectful.'

'Oh, Cogsworth, the man is an idiot and everyone knows it! Don't defend him!'

'I was not!'

'Was too!'

'Was not, you wax-head!'

'Was too, you tightly wound, pompous buffoon!'

'Gentlemen!' Mrs Potts interrupted, 'Please stop your silly arguing and carry on looking!'

The two men did so, but Lumiere muttered 'idiot' under his breath to Cogsworth, but he pretended not to notice.

'Amelie?'

'Raymond?'

'Sophie?'

* * *

><p>They kept on for half an hour but they got no response from anybody and they couldn't help but think the worst. They could hear low growling nearby, but where it came from was too dark to see.<p>

'This isn't looking good,' said Lumiere.

'What if we never find them?' Babette said, sadly.

Then suddenly,

'Mrs Potts, is that you?' a soft, feminine voice called out. It sounded like-

'Rebecca!'

'Rebecca, we're over here, dear!' said Mrs Potts. Rebecca appeared, as a ragdoll, shorter than Lumiere, Cogsworth and Babette joined, but the same height as Mrs Potts. She still had on her dress, apron and shoes, changed to fit her soft body.

Her hair was yellow yarn, still in its style with the pink bow holding it in place, she had pink spots on her cheeks and her hands were only a singular digit and thumb. It was a shock to the young woman, or rather ragdoll, and Mrs Potts did her best to console her.

Rebecca then looked confusedly at Mrs Potts and the others, surprised at their forms.

'Is that what you were before, when the enchantment happened?' she asked, as they nodded.

'Yes, dear, and how that evil enchantress knew how to transform us back into these awful objects and did the same to you and the others, I do not know.' Mrs Potts said,

'Well, I was holding a ragdoll before it happened, so maybe it had something to do with it,' said Rebecca.

'Could be, dear,' said Mrs Potts.

'Hey guys, are you there?' an unmistakably loud voice then boomed out. It belonged to a washboard emerging out of the darkness, towards the light Lumiere was providing and it didn't take three guesses or even one to figure out who it was.

'Remy!' they all said.

'That's my name, don't wear it out,' he replied waving his non-existent arm. Realising that he had no arms, he looked in a nearby mirror and saw himself not as a human, not charred from the Red Enchantress's blast but a light brown wooden washboard, just like Fifi, only it (or she) was immobile and he wasn't. He then cried out-

'Ahhhhh! That evil witch turned me into a washboard! It was bad enough she zapped me with her magic, but turning me into a washboard? That's adding insult to injury! And how the heck did she know how to turn me into one and then leave without so much as offering a way to break the spell or change me back into a human? The coward! If she ever comes back, I'll give her a piece of my mind..'

'Like you didn't deserve it! And you won't be doing that again! You've done enough already!' George said, revealing himself to be a mahogany washtub, like the one he and Remy used to wash the laundry.

'It was because of your stupid actions that we got turned into household objects! If you hadn't provoked her by pointing your stupid washboard and had kept your big, fat, yappy mouth shut, then this wouldn't have happened! What goes around comes around, Remy and it reflects poorly on me that you're my brother!' shouted George.

'It was not because of me, Georgie! It was because the princess picked her stupid magical rose! And I couldn't stand idle by and let that witch hurt her, couldn't I? I was just defending her, me, you, us and the masters, there's no law against protecting those you love, is there? No, there isn't!'

'Well, yes Remy, that is true, but you didn't really help the situation. In fact you made it worse.'

'Yes you moron, you added fuel to the fire. As if a washboard could really be an effective weapon against a powerful enchantress.' Rebecca said.

'You sound just like Kitty Kat, Becks. You've been hanging around her too much, so you've picked up her dumb clichés. Speaking of which, where is the Queen of Corny Clichés?'

'I'm right here, King of the Idiots,' a tall, cream-coloured mannequin with a mahogany stand appeared which had Katrine's green eyes, nose and lips.

'Hey Kitty Kat, who's the dummy here? You are!' said Remy, laughing.

'I beg your pardon?' said Katrine, offended, 'Are you saying I'm stupid?'

'What the idiot is saying, mademoiselle Katrine and I don't mean to offend you but you are a dummy or mannequin as is the proper, non-offensive term that you use.' Lumiere said, but Katrine still wasn't convinced.

'You're pulling my leg, aren't you?' she said.

'I suggest you look in the mirror to be certain because I assure you that this is no joke,' said Cogsworth. Katrine did so and found that Remy was in fact speaking literally although she and the other dressmakers never used the term 'dummy', as they considered it unsophisticated.

'Oh my gosh! It's true! I am a mannequin!' she gasped.

'I told you,' both Remy and Lumiere said.

'And I'm a doll,' Rebecca said, looking up at Katrine.

'You sure are,' Remy said, 'and a fine looking doll too!'

'Shut up,' said Rebecca, 'I know you're speaking literally, but I still prefer that you don't call me that.'

'Alright, doll,' replied Remy, while George mouthed 'That's enough,' to him.

'Wow, Rebecca, you look really small down there, you all do.' Katrine said, feeling awkwardly huge, seeing everyone at her feet smaller than her. Then she remembered about her aunt.

'Aunt Estelle! Aunt Estelle, are you alright?' she called out, waddling towards the stairs but in her haste and forgetting that she no longer had arms and legs, fell flat on her face.

'Um, little help?' she said, embarrassed. Rebecca, Lumiere and Cogsworth helped her up the best they could.

'Thanks,' she said, 'This is going to take sometime getting used to. I wonder how on earth Aunt Estelle coped with being a wardrobe for ten years.'

'Oh, believe me, it was no walk in the park, but it was survivable,' Madame Armoire said, appearing at the top of the stairs, having been turned back into a wardrobe.

'Aunt Estelle! Thank goodness you're alright!' Katrine said.

'You seem okay yourself, dearie, that's something to be thankful for, even though you're a dummy-'

'Mannequin,' Katrine corrected her.

'-Mannequin,' Madame repeated, 'But don't worry, Katrine, dearie, I'll help you manage your new form. It may take some time, but rest assured you'll get the hang of it and you won't fall on your face again.'

'Thanks, Aunt Estelle,' said Katrine.

'So who's still missing?' said Cogsworth, 'Who haven't we found yet?'

'When Katrine fell over, she reminded me of Raymond. He usually falls flat on his face.' Chip said. His comment sprung a thought.

'Of course! Amelie, Raymond and Sophie! We haven't found them yet!' said Mrs Potts, 'Poor Sophie, she must be so scared. I mean, she's only a little girl and this must be a frightening thing to be happening to her.

But then again, she is brave, unlike her father,'

As if answering Mrs Potts's question-

'Is it alright to come out now? Is the Red Enchantress gone?'

'Yes, Raymond, we can come out. The others must be wondering where we are.'

The last missing servants were soon revealed when an easel wearing Raymond's beret, had his eyes, moustache and nose, waddled forward, in a similar way to Katrine, followed by a brown palette with red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple paint blobs, like on Amelie's apron, a brush attached to it and wearing Amelie's beret, had her blue eyes, nose and mouth.

Hopping beside them was a little glass paint bottle filled with pink paint, which had Sophie's eyes, nose and mouth.

'Well, looks like the cute little object is now Sophie,' said Chip, which made her giggle. Far from being scared, Sophie just wasn't aware that she was now a paint bottle and not a little human girl.

'I'm not sure what it is, but something feels different about me somehow,' said Amelie, rubbing her head with the brush, which was technically her 'arm'. She looked in the mirror and saw herself as a palette.

'Oh, no,' she muttered.

'Mama! I'm a paint bottle!' said Sophie.

'Yes, darling you are and you have to be a brave girl, or rather paint bottle, and take it calmly, alright? Can you do that for me?'

'Alright, Mama,' Sophie said, 'We'll change back soon, anyway.'

Amelie wasn't sure how to respond to that. How would she explain to her daughter what had happened, something that she herself barely understood and she may not change back as soon as she expected? That she may be a paint bottle for a long time, maybe forever?

It tug at her heart, but Sophie didn't seem too bothered, as she happily hopped around, testing her new form.

'Look what I can do now, Mama!' she then said, squirting some paint and it landed back into her. Chip laughed, remembering the trick he used to do, making bubbles come out from him.

'Isn't that neat, Mama?' Sophie said.

'Yes, it's very nice, dear, but I prefer that you don't do that again, please.' Amelie said.

_What a brave little girl Raymond and I have.__ If only Raymond was more like that, _she thought to herself. Speaking of her husband, he was running around in circles, panicking and screaming-

'This is bad, this is bad! I'm an easel! An easel!'

Amelie then did the one thing she usually did when Raymond got all panicky, as much as she didn't like doing it but it was the only way to calm him down.

'Get a hold of yourself, Raymond!' she said, slapping him in the face, using the brush in lieu of her hand, which made him stop.

'Thank you, _cherie,'_ he said, calm again.

'Don't mention it, dear,' she replied.

'Well, that's everyone now,' Lumiere said, 'and it looks like we've also found Sultan and Lila,' as the two pets passed by. Sultan was the footstool he once was and Lila was now an elaborately decorated cushion-the one she usually slept on. It was dark blue with gold tassels and a daisy pattern on top.

Despite this, she still triggered Cogsworth's allergies, as he sneezed repeatedly and Sultan, not deterred by being a footstool, chased her until they were out of sight.

'Only one question, Lumiere,' said Cogsworth, letting out another sneeze, 'Where are the masters and the princess? Weren't we supposed to look for them as well?'

Then, the low growl could be heard again.

'The master! Come on, we've got to find them!' Doing the best they could with their limited abilities (Rebecca made more progress, since she still had legs) they ran, or rather hopped and shuffled all over the place until,

'Owwww!' Remy yelped as he tripped over something stony and fell, 'What genius put this dumb stone here, so that some schmuck could trip over it?' He then looked up and saw that these were no ordinary stone statues, not like the ones that Amelie and Raymond would make. They were-

'Guys! Come over here! You have to see this!'

Immediately, the servants-turned-objects made their way to where Remy was and what they saw shocked them, as the statues were none other than Belle, Adam and Maurice with horrified expressions on their faces, hunched over in the place when they tried to reach out to Rose.

'Oh, Maurice, my darling, what has happened to you?' Mrs Potts said mournfully, as she nuzzled against her husband as carefully as she could to avoid chipping herself against the stone. Tears dripped down her cheeks, as Chip and Rebecca comforted her.

'Oh, Master, Mistress,' said Cogsworth, saddened by the sight, as was everyone, of the masters as cold, hard stone incapable of moving.

'Hey, look at the master's face!' Remy said, pulling the same one as Adam's, laughing.

'Cut that out, Remy, you're not being funny,' said George, who was getting fed up with his brother's antics.

'And look what I can do!' Remy then said, waddling on his short 'legs' through the statues, making faces and laughing, ' I'm acting like a jerk and the masters can't stop me!', as he attempted to climb them.

'Quit clowning around Remy, you thick-headed plank of wood! You're not impressing anyone and you just look ridiculous!' Lumiere said.

'Oh, put a sock in it, wax for brains! Don't spoil my fun!' replied Remy.

'George, do something about your moron of a brother!' said Cogsworth, angry.

'What do I look like, my brother's keeper?' said George.

'Yes, because he's YOUR BROTHER, George and YOU are responsible for him! That's what you promised the master, that you would keep him from misbehaving and causing trouble!'

'I wish I wasn't,' George muttered. Soon after, Remy got bored with his game, when he realised that no one was responding to him, which took the fun out of it, and got down from the statues.

' Eh, that was no fun anyway,' he said.

'Well, at least this proves that the master wasn't turned into the Beast again,' Lumiere said, as seeing Adam as a stone statue put to rest any hasty conclusions the servants had jumped to when they had heard the low growling and assumed it had been him.

'But if that wasn't the master, then who was it? Who transformed into a..a..beast?' said Babette, nervously.

'And where did that low growling noise come from?' said Rebecca.

* * *

><p>Suddenly, the growling got louder, as an animal-like figure emerged out of the corner it had hidden in. The servants gasped in horror, as the figure revealed itself.<p>

Unlike Adam, who had the torso of a bear when he had been the Beast, this beast was as thin and sleek as a wolf, covered in light brown fur, with a dark brown patch on its chest.

It had an untamed mane like a lion, which was a shade darker than Rose's auburn hair, floppy, velvety ears, horns of a buffalo, only smaller, blue eyes which were _very _like Rose's and had dark brown patches of fur around them.

Its face and snout was wolf-like, but was missing the goat's beard Adam had and two sharp fangs poked out of its mouth. A long, light brown tail hung down on the floor behind it and thin, sharp claws were on its paws.

That was shocking enough, but seeing the tattered remains of a white shirt, dark blue bodice and a light blue skirt hanging off its body and the blue eyes staring at them made the servants cum household objects realise that this new beast before them was none other than their beloved princess Rose.


	7. Chapter 7

_Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far. I'm really chuffed, considering this is my first fanfic. In this chapter, the Enchantress may seem a bit OOC, but since this curse is not of her doing, she has to be sympathetic and give Rose a way to break the spell. This is the last chapter featuring Rose (for a while at least), before we move on to the village._

_I don't own Beauty and the Beast, just my OCs_

* * *

><p>Having emerged out of the darkness and into the light, Rose, although she had felt herself transform into a beast, didn't actually know what she now looked like nor that the moving, talking, breathing household objects that stared at her with shock and fear were her servants, Nana and Chip.<p>

She couldn't see the Red Enchantress, who had fled like a coward after she had put this terrible curse on them, but she did see the stone statues of her parents and grandfather and the enchanted rose, the very root of this misfortune placed on her, levitating in a corner, to which she quickly turned away from, ashamed to look at it.

Seeing their princess in the same beastly form as her father, what they had hoped that she would never be, the servants didn't know what to say. It was bad enough that they were cursed to live as objects again and those who had already suffered in their lives and had never been cursed were to share their fate, but an innocent, naïve little girl, who didn't know any better was a very cruel blow.

Not wanting Rose to hear them, the servants whispered among themselves, but her new super-sensitive ears could pick up snippets of their conversation and what she heard was-

'Stand absolutely still,' said George.

'What if she hunts by scent?' Remy said.

'Aw, she ruined her outfit. I worked so hard on that!' said Katrine, seeing her hard work torn to pieces, hanging off Rose's body.

'Oh my gosh, what is she?' Amelie gasped, 'She looks like some sort of wolf with bits of a lion, buffalo and goodness what else combined!'

'She's a beast, Amelie,' said Lumiere, 'like her father was, when we were first cursed.'

'Wait, the master was a beast?' said Amelie, 'Just like what the princess is now?'

'Yes he was, so this silly little tale is in fact true.' Lumiere said.

Rose was shocked at hearing that her father had been a beast too and that the castle had been cursed before and Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs Potts, Chip and Babette had been household objects.

Papa had never told her about it, nor did the servants, but then again, she did hear some talk about it, but she hadn't taken notice, and her parents decided that she would never know about her father's past, as he was afraid that she would be scared of him and that she would tell the wrong people about it, and be called crazy.

But she needed to know the truth and what had happened to her and what she now looked like.

'Nana, what happened to me?' Rose said, her voice now deeper and animal like. She then put her paw to her mouth, shocked at hearing such a distorted voice come from her, the sharp fangs hurting as she spoke. She thought that maybe being mute would be better than having to use that voice.

'Well dear,' said Mrs Potts, calm, but her voice containing fear and concern, 'as much as it will be difficult for you, you should look in the mirror to see what you are.'

Rose nodded and found a nearby mirror. As she looked at herself, she screamed in spite of choosing to be mute, although it came out as a roar, which made the servants flinch. Instead of the princess adored all over the kingdom, a loathsome beast stared back at her, wearing the ragged remains of her clothes.

She closed her eyes, hoping it was just a horrible nightmare and when she woke up, everything would be back to normal, she would be herself again and life would carry on as normal, but try as she might, it was still real and a tear dripped from her eyelids, leaving a wet patch on her furry face.

_Is that really me? _she thought, going back to being a mute. Looking at Mrs Potts, she pointed to herself to show if it was true.

Everyone was confused at why she wasn't speaking and didn't understand the signs she was making, but Mrs Potts picked it up quite quickly, correctly realising that Rose didn't like using her new voice and understood what she was trying to say, or rather mime.

'Yes, dear, it really is you,' she said, sadly. Rose, dropping on all fours, went over to her parents, frozen in their pose and flung her arms around them, weeping, a truly heart breaking sight to those who saw it.

'The poor dear,' Mrs Potts said to herself, her heart breaking at the sight of her step-granddaughter, who she loved dearly, as a hideous monster hugging her motionless parents, who would not be able to reassure her, to help her adjust and tell her everything would be alright.

'There's just one thing I don't understand,' said Katrine, 'How did the Red Enchantress know about us? How was she able to use the spell to turn us into objects and the princess into a beast?'

'And what objects to turn us into?' said Rebecca.

' And the objects we once were?' said Chip.

'I can explain,' a voice then said. Everyone turned around and saw the doors open again as the familiar figure of the Enchantress entered, unchanged from when she first appeared to them.

'Oh, no, not another one,' muttered Remy.

'Now, this is the enchantress that cursed us the first time,' Cogsworth said to those who were confused and afraid of her, convinced that she would be like her red counterpart, here to finish them off.

But she seemed to be the lesser of two evils, as her eyes did not have the evil and malice the Red Enchantress had, but of pity and sorrow, something that Adam did not see when he refused her shelter in her beggar woman disguise, seeing his spoiled and cruel nature; as she saw the sorry sight that lay before her.

'Now Remy, don't you say or do anything this time. You've already angered one enchantress and I'm sure you don't want to be on the receiving end of another's magic when she is angry, alright?' George said to his brother, not wanting a repeat of what had happened earlier.

'Don't worry, dear brother,' said Remy, 'I know how to be discreet, cause I sure don't want to be zapped again!'

'Oh, please, you're as discreet as a parrot!' George said, as Remy said his last sentence loudly, but the Enchantress pretended not to notice.

'So you're the Enchantress then,' said Katrine, 'The very person who had turned my aunt into a wardrobe,' while in awe of his magical creature.

'Indeed,' she said, 'but my real name is Irena. I didn't give it away the first time I was here, as I didn't think something that was so insignificant as my name was important. How you know who I am, I assume that your aunt, Estelle Armoire, has told you about the first enchantment, that I created, when you first arrived at the castle '

'She did,' replied Katrine, amazed at how Irena seemed to know about her,' She and I are very close.

She's like a mother to me, so we tell each other everything and when I arrived, she was adamant that I should know about the castle's history. She didn't want to hide anything from me.'

'So that's why you know so much about the enchantment,' Rebecca said.

'Exactly,' Irena said, 'Did any of you know or were told of the enchantment that had happened before your time?' while looking at Rebecca, George, Remy, Amelie, Raymond and Sophie.

'Not really,' they said.

'Well, we were told, but we didn't really believe it. We thought it was some fairy tale, since there was no way it could happen,' Amelie said, 'but now that we've been turned into enchanted objects ourselves, I think we're beginning to understand what Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs Potts, Chip, Babette and Madame Armoire went through.' The others nodded in agreement.

'But Irena, how did the Red Enchantress know your spell? And who is she exactly and how did she come into our world?' said Katrine.

* * *

><p>'The Red Enchantress is the most dangerous being in our world,' Irena said, as the objects gathered around to hear her story,' Her magic is more powerful than mine or any other of my fellow enchanters.<p>

However, she abuses her powers by being cheap and cowardly, playing with human lives as if they are nothing more than pawns in her evil schemes. She lures her prey in and tells malicious lies about them and she strikes without mercy, those who dare to stand up to her and fight her.'

'Yes, Remy found that out the hard way,' said Lumiere, glaring at Remy who grinned sheepishly.

'As punishment for her careless and reckless use of magic, we banished her to the human world, hoping that she would not cause any more harm.'

'Well, that was a big mistake,' muttered Remy.

'But before she left, she broke into my chambers and found the spell that I had used on you and ripped the page out of my book of spells. With the spell and her enchanted rose, which we believe she stole but we weren't able to confirm it, she left.

Once in your world, she settled in a cottage in the woods near your castle, as she had learnt, from talk among us, that's where you lived and the very place where I put the enchantment.

For reasons that I'll never understand and find ridiculous, she was convinced that the princess would be just like her father and other noble children, but I knew better since I know her parents and you..'

'Just for the record, the masters didn't raise her to be spoiled, selfish and unkind! We helped them raise her right!' Remy interrupted.

'I do know that and I would prefer that you don't interrupt me,' said Irena, 'Adam and Belle have indeed raised her beautifully, but the Red Enchantress, being the cruel and malevolent being that she is, decided to end their happiness.

She planted that rose in the bush under the ruse of protecting it, but it had been set up as a trap, as she had watched Rose, when she went into the woods and saw you servants holding objects, that she wanted to turn you into and I believe you know what happened next,'

'Yes,' Cogsworth sighed.

'But how did you know what the Red Enchantress was up to?' said Chip.

'I had been watching her, as I had heard rumours that she was up to her old tricks again. It seems now that by sending her to the human world, we've actually done more harm than good and I can assure you that if we ever catch her, she will be severely punished.' Irena said, although deep down, she knew that would be impossible.

'Irena,' said Cogsworth,' if it is possible, would you be able to change the princess and us back into humans, free the masters and Monsieur Maurice from their stone prisons and restore the castle back to its former glory?'

'Don't you think I could if I would?' Irena said,' I mean I would, but unfortunately it doesn't work like that for you see my magic cannot be used against another enchanter's spell and as I said before, the Red Enchantress's magic is stronger than mine. Either she has to lift it, which I very much doubt she will do or-'

'Or what?'

'There is something that the princess can do to break the spell, since this is centred around her like it was for her father,' said Irena.

'Princess Rose?' she called out. Upon hearing her name, Rose had to look up from where she was, at the foot of the statues, then buried her head against them at seeing another magical creature in the castle, but this one looked at her kindly and not evilly, with pity in her emerald green eyes at seeing this sad-looking beast that had once been a happy human girl.

'It's alright, Princess, I mean you no harm,' Irena said, gently, kneeling down to her level, to make her less intimidating. Rose reluctantly looked at her but didn't say anything, remaining mute.

'Talk to her dear,' said Mrs Potts, 'She may be able to help you.' Rose still said nothing.

' It doesn't matter what your voice sounds like, Princess,' said Lumiere, 'but it is considered rude not to answer when someone is talking to you and you still need to show good manners.'

Realising that Lumiere was right and that she couldn't keep up her charade any longer, Rose said, facing Irena-

'Who are you, madame and how can you help me?'

'I am Irena, the enchantress that had once cursed your father and the castle years ago.' Irena said, which made Rose's eyes widen, 'Didn't he and your mother ever tell you about his past?'

'No, he didn't, but why did you curse Papa? What did he do that made you come to him?' Rose then asked.

'When your father was a child like you, he was a very spoiled, selfish, cold and cruel prince, a lonely, angry orphan coddled by his servants who didn't dare refuse his demands,' Irena began, while looking at the servants.

'So that's why you were cursed as well,' said Katrine, 'You let him become that way,'

'That's right, Katrine,' said Mrs Potts, as Irena continued with her story.

' One Christmas Eve, when your father was in his eleventh year, I disguised myself as an old beggar woman, approached the castle and offered him a single rose in exchange for shelter.'

'Did he give shelter to you, Irena?' said Rose.

'I'm afraid not, for you see, he was repulsed by my disguise and refused me shelter. I warned him not to be deceived by appearance but he refused me again so I revealed my true self to him.

He then begged me for forgiveness but I saw that he had no love in his heart and transformed him into what he truly was inside- a beast. Before his twenty-first year, he had to fall in love with another and earn her love in return to break the spell, which your mother did, when she offered to be his prisoner in exchange for your grandfather's freedom.'

Hearing Irena's story made Rose feel shocked and sad. This was not the Papa she knew.

The Papa who was nothing but kind and loving to her, rode her on his shoulders, played with her in the garden and comforted her when she had been sad, lonely or frightened.

Papa who along with Mama, sat by her side when she had a very serious bout of influenza when she was six, and took care of her, refusing to leave her side and read to her; had been a horrible, mean beast and imprisoned her mother and grandfather.

But it didn't make her hate him, she would always love him, no matter what.

'Why didn't Papa tell me?' she said, as tears dripped down her face, wetting the fur.

'Your father loves you too much, Princess. He and your mother were adamant that no matter what, you were never to know about the curse, as he wanted to protect you and was afraid that you would be scared of him and repulsed by the fact that he had been a beast or that if you told anyone outside the castle about it, you would be called crazy.' Cogsworth said.

'But it doesn't matter to me what he did in the past! He's still my Papa and I love him!' sobbed Rose, as she flung her arms around her father.

' I don't want to be a beast! I want to be me again, to have Mama, Papa and Grandpapa with me and everything to be as it was!'

She let out a mournful howl, as she sobbed. Seeing this, Irena, who normally didn't show much emotion, couldn't help but shed a tear, which she quickly wiped away.

'Princess, there is a way you can break this spell,' Irena said. Rose stopped crying and faced Irena again. With her wand, she whipped up some sort of mirror, decorated with pink roses and green leaves and handed it to Rose, who looked at it curiously.

She cradled it gently, like it was Rebby or any of her other dolls, fascinated by its shimmering beauty.

'That is no ordinary mirror you have there,' said Irena, 'It is a magic mirror, which is similar to the one I gave your father. It allows you to see anything you desire. It is your window to the outside world.'

'Just like the master's mirror,' whispered Babette, for Adam's own magic mirror had been hidden away in a cupboard in the West Wing, mainly from Rose and Remy had found it and used it to look at Rebecca, who had called him a 'disgusting pervert'.

'Thank you, Irena,' said Rose.

'And now,' Irena said, holding the enchanted rose. Rose quickly turned away, certain that she never wanted to see it again, but confused about why the Red Enchantress, who had ranted on about how precious it was to her, had left it behind and Irena was giving it to her. She forced herself to look at it and Irena placed it in her paw.

'The rose will bloom until your eighteenth year. If you can fall in love with another and earn his love in return before the last petal falls, the spell will be broken.'

'And if I can't?' said Rose.

'If you can't, then I'm afraid that you will remain a beast forever,' Irena said, 'But I have faith in you, Princess and I know you can do it through your own efforts. And I know that one day, a boy will indeed come to the castle.

How and when he will come, I cannot say, but he will. Now, I've done all I can do, but I must leave you.

But hear this: You must learn to contain the beast within. Do not let it control you.' With one last look at Rose and the servants and a heavy heart, she disappeared. With Irena gone, the servants whispered among themselves, wondering how on earth they would be able to cope with being household objects for ten years again.

Katrine, Rebecca, George, Remy, Amelie, Raymond and Sophie were the most dismayed, as it was the last thing they needed after all they had been through in their lives- If they had known that if they were going to be cursed when they were in the castle, they would've had probably fled the first chance they had gotten, but they decided that they just had to be resilient and do the best they could with their limitations i.e. having no arms and legs.

Rose was trying to get her head around what Irena had told her what she needed to do to break the spell. How would she cope with being a beast for ten years, without her parents and grandfather by her side? Would she have to wait until she was eighteen to find love?

How could she get anyone to fall in love with her when she had a furry face, fangs and a tail? If any boy or prince saw her now, they would most likely recoil in horror and flee the minute they laid an eye on her.

Then something started brewing inside her. An unfamiliar emotion, one that she never showed, not even when she was frustrated or unhappy about something she didn't like or wanted to do.

Anger.

Looking at the servants as nothing more than household objects, the sad, resigned looks on their faces, made her feel guilty and the anger brewed up even more inside. Not wanting to see her lash out and ashamed to face them, she bolted up the stairs using her animal agility, to her room.

'Princess, wait!' said Rebecca, running over to her, but Mrs Potts stopped her.

'Just leave her now, Rebecca,' she said soothingly, 'I think she needs to be alone.'

Then, the next sounds the servants heard were mirrors and furniture being smashed, which made them flinch and brought back memories of the Beast's explosive temper and anger. It was so unlike the princess to do this, but they realised it was the beast starting to take over her.

'And it's now started,' said Cogsworth.

'I just hope that the furniture she's smashing isn't alive.' Lumiere said.

* * *

><p>Her paws bleeding and strewn with bits of glass from smashing mirrors, her claws hurting from having ripped a portrait of herself in the hall and panting heavily, Rose collapsed on a chair in her room which was now a destroyed wreck.<p>

In her anger, she had smashed her dolls' house, the one that Maurice had worked day and night over five months for her, the porcelain dolls which were now in pieces and four of her ragdolls- Clarisse, Gervaise, Elodie and Raisse- had their heads ripped from their bodies and lay scattered on the floor.

But what Rose then saw shocked her, as Rebby, her most beloved doll, had also borne the brunt of her anger, as she too lay on the floor, her head and body separate from each other. Rebby's face, as Rose cradled her head in her paws, while emotionless and unmoving, looked at her as if to say 'Why?'.

Tears dripping down her face, Rose collapsed on the floor, surrounded by her dismembered dolls, as she felt she was unworthy to sleep in her grand bed since she was no longer human.

Behind her, on a table near the window, lay the new magic mirror and the enchanted rose, now in a bell jar, gave off a pink glow as it began to open its petals.

As the days turned into weeks, months and years, Rose, ashamed of her monstrous form, carrying a huge burden of guilt about putting the servants through another enchantment and without the love and presence of her parents, hid away from everyone.

Her personality changed from kind, caring and happy to bitter, mean and reclusive (but some compassion remained, but did not show as much).

Her temper, having been only very slight, was now ten times worse, making the servants, who once fought each other to help take care of her, terrified to approach her.

She lost hope of ever breaking the spell, convinced that no boy would ever come to the castle. And if he did, would he learn to love a Beast?


	8. Chapter 8

_So in this chapter, you get to meet the new 'beau'! Yes, he may be like Belle, but rest assured, he has his own personality as well. There is also a song that he sings, called 'A Life I Want To Lead,' which I wrote myself, so I've done my best to make it rhyme considering I'm not naturally a songwriter, and there are new villagers as well._

_Reviews are most welcome!_

_I don't own Beauty and the Beast._

* * *

><p>In the years since the second enchantment was placed on the castle, no one, from the village to the court in Versailles, had seen the royal family nor had learnt of their fate.<p>

Rumours had swirled around the village that they had gone travelling around France and the princess had been sent to a boarding school in Paris to finish her education; that they had drowned in a shipwreck en route to England; that they had been killed in a carriage accident; that a vicious animal entered the castle and slaughtered the king and queen and was holding the princess captive or that they had succumbed to a deadly disease.

Most of the rumours bordered on reasonable to ridiculous and it was hard to tell which was which.

The village boys, while out hunting, said that they saw what they believed to be a beast lurking in the forest hunting down animals and dragging their carcasses back to some forsaken place, but had been too afraid to approach it, so they exaggerated heavily in their story.

Being the simple-minded people they were, the villagers soon became paranoid and they avoided going into the forest by any means necessary and used the so-called 'beast' as a way to scare their children into obedience and not to go out of the village

'Don't wander into the forest or the Beast will get you and you will never come home again!'

In spite of the rumours, the villagers had actually hoped that the royal family was still alive. In honour of them, the wonderful things they had done for the village and to keep their memory alive, they lit the rose-shaped candles on the princess's birthday, as they had always done and every October twenty-third (the day they disappeared), they lit another pink rose-shaped candle for the princess, a blue one for the king and a gold one for the queen, to remember them and as a sign of hope that one day, they would return to the kingdom.

But life had to go on and for the villagers that was exactly what happened. Men and women did their work, boys hunted, fished, drank in the tavern, chased and flirted with girls and trained for and competed in the Gaston Games, an annual one-day sporting event in the village with the sports that Gaston had been famous for and girls went shopping, flirted and teased the boys and gossiped among themselves.

Every day was the same in the small village and had been for generations. But, as was the case with Belle, someone was about to change it again.

* * *

><p>Just outside the village, in a meadow near the river and mountains, a young man was lying on a rug in the grass, quietly looking at a mathematics book while writing down sums in a journal, concentrating hard on his work, only stopping to dip his quill in the ink well near him.<p>

His name was Leon Dupont, who was nineteen years old and had lived in the village his whole life with his widowed mother. He was handsome, with long, light brown hair which he wore in a ponytail and chocolate-brown eyes. He was well-built with some muscles on his arms, considering that he didn't take part in any sports, but did wood chopping for his mother, which contributed to his build. He wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a blue vest, dark brown trousers and mahogany boots.

Leon was also very intelligent, spending his few leisure moments reading, when he had finished his studies for the day. On a nice day, he usually went into the meadow to read and study, for quiet away from the hustle and bustle of the village, but not too far although he didn't believe the rumours, being the stubborn person he was and defied them. What had made him unique from other villagers was that he was self-educated.

From a young age, he had taught himself how to read, write, mathematics, science, history, geography, art, French, English, Spanish, Latin and German. Whatever money he had earned from doing chores around the house and working during the summer at the bookshop, which was now named _La Librairie de la Reine Belle, _in honour of the queen, he would spend on the text books, art supplies and science equipment he needed and any books which took his fancy, and not on beer or hunting gear.

Reading was a great love of his and he preferred it over the activities the boys his age did and sitting around looking handsome for girls. It wasn't unusual to see him engrossed in a book as he walked through the village, oblivious to the whispers, stares and talk about him.

His most favourite books were fairy tales, which one would consider odd for a boy his age to like, but Leon didn't care for one's opinions when it came to reading and books unless they were positive ones.

Looking at his books, Leon often dreamed of the adventure, romance and excitement they portrayed to him and more often than not, he dreamed of leaving the village and the provincial life he led, going on adventures, finding romance and true love and travelling to far away places, having learnt foreign languages and wanting to put them to use and he certainly wasn't going to find it in a simple little village. He wanted much more than that.

The reason he wanted to escape, was that he was well-known in the village and it wasn't all for the right reasons.

It was true that he was regarded as the most handsome boy in the village, but his love for reading, his self-education, non-conformity, his disinterest in finding a girl to marry, his devotion to his mother and lack of a father figure made him the subject of ridicule, mockery, rejection and butt of jokes.

Many considered him odd and felt he was too good for them, due to being able to read and write more than his own name.

Leon was not popular with his peers and didn't have any friends, as they teased, mocked, bullied, rejected him and called him names. One of those was 'Duplonk', which was a play on his last name and what they always referred to him, not bothering to call him by his proper name, and sadly, that was the kinder name they used.

'Hey, Duplonk, get your nose out of that book!'

'Hey, Duplonk, how many pigs have you kissed today?'

The latter was a reference to a humiliating incident that happened to Leon last year, where he was tricked by Violette, the daughter of Laura, one of the Bimbettes into going on a date with her (so she could humiliate him) and she made him close his eyes before he kissed her and when he did so, he opened his eyes and, to his horror and embarrassment, he was not kissing Violette, but Cecile, the village pig in front of everyone, which he was laughed at mercilessly for days and one villager commented that

'I don't know who should be more embarrassed, Duplonk or the pig?'

Although most had forgotten about it, the boys and girls still brought it up, accompanied by oinking noises and another nickname for him-'Swinekisser', but Leon ignored them, carrying on with his reading.

Despite this, many pestered him about finding a wife and settling down into marriage, but Leon, not having entirely ruled it out in spite of his humiliating incident, only wanted to marry for love, someone who loved him for who he was, not because of his looks and vice versa and he was too devoted to his mother to leave her just yet as he had promised his father that he would look after her, if anything were to happen to him, to which the villagers scoffed at.

With what had happened to him, it was no wonder that Leon wanted to escape, as he felt he had never fitted in the village, in spite of having spent his whole life there, but didn't fit the mold of what was expected of him, to be the 'ideal young man' and it was suffocating him.

Although he didn't know it yet, destiny was about to be laid out for him and he would have an adventure, far more than he expected.

* * *

><p>It was midday when Leon had finished the sums he was doing and he saw it as a perfect time to have a bite to eat and read his latest book, or re-read it, as he had loved it so much. It had been payment for his work in the bookshop over the summer- 'a modern twist on a tale as old as time,' the owner, Monsieur Livre had said at the time.<p>

Digging into his bag, which he carried with him and contained his books and money pouch, which reminded him that he needed to buy a new science text-book that he had saved up for and the royal family candles, for today was the tenth anniversary of their disappearance, when he went into town later that day, he found the book and his lunch which his mother made.

Standing next to him was his horse, Sabine. She was a sandy-coloured mare with an auburn mane and tail.

For a mare, she was very strong and brave, not easily frightened and had good instincts when it came to danger. She could sense when her masters and complete strangers were in trouble and needed help and if they were heading somewhere dangerous, she would steer whoever was riding her to a safer way, refusing to move if the rider insisted on going the dangerous way.

She was also Leon's best and only friend and he confided in her when he was sad, scared, lonely or needed someone, other than his mother, to talk to and she listened and borne his problems patiently, as any horse would.

When his father died after being accidentally shot by a competitor during the shooting event of the Gaston Games, who missed the target, it had been Sabine's mane he had cried into when he first heard the news through a villager who had looked after him, when his mother tended to his father's side, shedding the tears that no one could see.

Leon had never understood why his father, who had hated the Games, saying that 'why on earth would anyone compete in an event dedicated to a boorish buffoon?' chose that day of days to be a spectator there.

He had known that while friends came and went and turned on each other, Sabine would always be there for him.

It was having a horse as his best friend that added to the many things that made up his reputation of being odd, as it seemed he preferred the company of animals than people, but it was hardly surprising, since he had no real friends.

Sabine, having gone to the river for a drink, trotted back to where Leon was sitting and nickered against him. Usually that was a sign of affection, but Leon knew it also meant that she wanted food, having spotted the oats and carrots in his bag.

'Okay, Sabine, I'll get your oats,' said Leon, pouring out a handful in his palm, which she chomped hungrily. With Sabine taken care of, he ate the sweet meat sandwiches, apple and nuts for lunch, while reading his book.

After a few chapters, he stopped and stared dreamily out into the meadow, the river, mountains and forest, wondering what was out there and thinking about leaving the village.

'One day, Sabine,' he said to her, ' I'll leave this village and go on adventures, live a life full of excitement, find romance and true love like in my books, where I can be myself and not be teased, ridiculed, the butt of people's jokes or be tied down in a loveless marriage. I want more than this provincial life and I hope to find someone who understands me and shares my beliefs.'

Sabine whinnied and snorted at hearing what Leon said, as if to say, 'That's ridiculous!'

'Shows how much you know!' said Leon, hurt, 'I thought that you would be more supportive! Then again, it does sound ridiculous, but I want to make it happen,' he sighed heavily.

Hearing the sad tone in her master's voice, Sabine had a change of heart and whinnied softly, nuzzling against Leon, not only because she understood and comforted him, but hoping that she would get a carrot as a reward.

'Aw, thanks girl, I knew you'd understand,' said Leon, nuzzling her, sensing that she wanted something in return, 'Here's your carrot,' grabbing one from his bag and giving it to Sabine, who munched it happily. Leon then picked up his book and resumed his reading.

'Look, this is an exciting part of my book!' he then said, showing it to Sabine, who snorted in response, as if to say, 'How many times have you read this book, three?'

'Yes, this is the third time I've read it, but it's just so good!' Leon said, eagerly showing the horse the page he was reading, 'This is where he meets the princess, but he won't know it's her until the end! Who knows, maybe I might have an adventure like that.'

Leon then felt like singing, for some reason, as he had something deep down he wanted to get out of him, to let the world know his desires and dreams and being in a meadow, with no one around but Sabine, it seemed a perfect place to do so. As he got up from where he was sitting, he cleared his throat and started to sing

_For isn't that how it starts?_

_A passion, a dream?_

_Wishful thinking on my part?_

_Something that I've thought of_

_That is deep within my heart?_

_I dream of a life where I don't need_

_To fulfil the expectations of a little town_

_They expect me to be a great hunter and fisher_

_A winner of the Gaston Games_

_And find myself a wife_

_But they just don't understand _

_That I want so much more than this provincial life_

Leon may have taught himself many things, but singing well wasn't one of them. It wasn't that he sounded horrible, it didn't sound like a proper singer's voice. He made a mental note to learn how to sing better and was grateful he was in the meadow.

Sabine took offence at this and whinnied, also eager to move again and go back to the stall at home.

'All right, Sabine, we'll get going,' said Leon, clipping her lead to her halter, while gathering up his things in his bag and mounting her, 'I need to get that science text-book from the bookshop and pick up the royal family candles and yes, I'm aware that I'm not the best singer, but this comes from within.'

As he rode Sabine home, he sang again

_For that's a life I want to lead_

_Living in a village is not for me_

_I want adventure, excitement, just to be_

_Who I want to be_

_Going to far away places I've never been_

_You may think it's all a dream_

_But I can make it real_

_If I believe _

_In the life I want to lead_

Leon soon arrived back at his cottage and placed Sabine in her stall, removing her saddle, halter and lead, as she took a few laps of water and a few bites of her food, as he nuzzled her.

'See you later, girl,' he said, as Sabine whinnied and Leon then made his way towards the village to do his errands, walking down the path that led from the cottage to the village, still singing

_Nothing ever changes in this town_

_Same ideas, same meaningless existence_

_I don't feel like I fit in, they see me as odd_

_Don't fit the mold, not what a young man should be_

_Just because I love to read and taught myself_

_Everything I need to know_

* * *

><p>By now, Leon had arrived at the village and, anticipating the stares he was about to receive, he took out his book and read it, as he walked through the streets, through children, playing jump rope, marbles, boys fighting one another and girls playing hopscotch.<p>

He patted a little girl on the head one-handed as she looked at him, while taking no notice, as he usually did, of the villagers, who upon seeing him, stopped what they were doing and looked at him and they too sang

_Look, there he is!_

_The boy who's not like the others_

_Never part of any crowd_

_His head is always in the clouds_

_Always has his nose in a book_

_Doesn't even give you a look_

_When you say hello_

In the village square under a large statue of Gaston, four young men called 'The Muscular Men' (so-called for their muscular figures and tough exterior) who idolised and dressed like Gaston, claimed to be tough, brave skilled hunters and fishers and hung out under the statue where they leered at, flirted, called out to and behaved obnoxiously at any girls that passed by them (when they weren't out hunting and drinking in the tavern) and were part of the bullying of Leon; along with other boys also sang about him

_Thinks he's too good for the likes of us_

_He's not the same_

_Just because he can write more than his own name_

The villagers sang again

_The boy's dazed and distracted_

_It's plain for all to see_

_This isn't where he wants to be_

_Not one of us, that's for sure_

_For him, girls aren't a lure_

_It's strange to be nearly twenty_

_And not have a bride by his side_

_Doesn't he even want a wife?_

Violette, the girl who had humiliated Leon, was pumping water for the tavern where she worked as a barmaid, along with her cousins, Bridgette and Annette. Even though they were cousins, they behaved and dressed as if they were triplets, since there was only a year among them and they were very close.

They wore the same dress and apron (Bridgette, the eldest and daughter of Claudia, wore pink; Violette wore lavender and Annette, the youngest and daughter of Paula, wore light blue), had long, blonde hair with a head band that matched their dresses and blue eyes.

Seeing Leon, Violette sang

_Did we mention he once kissed a pig?_

_Little Cecile, she was lucky_

_To receive a kiss from him!_

At the mention of her name, Cecile, who was rolling in mud, oinked.

'But Violette, dear, you made him do it!' Bridgette and Annette reminded their cousin, 'Even though he was supposed to kiss you!'

'As a joke!' Violette said, defensively.

Along with the Bimbette cousins (their nickname), other village girls joined in the song

_Even though he is so odd_

_We can't help but admit_

_That's he's so handsome, we'll give him that!_

_But it's such a pity that Leon doesn't do_

_What the other boys do!_

As if on cue, the Muscular Men and the boys sang again

_He doesn't like to hunt, he doesn't like to fish_

_Doesn't compete in the Games, doesn't even drink_

_He never dresses like our great idol Gaston_

_Not into chasing girls, doesn't seem interested_

_Too devoted to his mother, we think_

_Just wants to be a good son_

_And his best friend is his horse_

_Isn't that strange?_

Leon was now near the bookshop, as the villagers finished singing

_That Leon, he sure is a funny boy!_

_A handsome but funny boy!_

_We'll never understand the way he is_

_As his head is fully of silly dreams_

_Which give him lots of glee_

_That funny boy!_

* * *

><p>The fading sign, <em>La Librairie de la Reine Belle, <em>outside the bookshop greeted Leon, as he approached the door. His hand about to open it, he glanced at the villagers, gathered around looking at him, and sang one last line

_They may think it's all a dream_

_But I can make it real_

_If I believe _

_In the life I want to lead_

He then entered the bookshop, the bell on the door signalling his arrival. The villagers watched him go in and once he disappeared from their view, they resumed what they were doing earlier.

* * *

><p><em>In case you were wondering, La librairie de la Reine Belle, translates to 'Queen Belle's Bookshop' in French. I thought it would be proper that Belle's favourite place in the village should be named after her.<em>


	9. Chapter 9

'Ah, there he is!' came the warm greeting of Monsieur Livre, a stout, black-haired man in his forties. He had taken over the bookshop when the original owner died and had no children to inherit it and he had named it after the queen; as Leon entered, 'My best customer and hard worker!'

'Bonjour, monsieur,' said Leon, 'how are you this fine day?'

'I'm very well, thank you for asking,' Monsieur Livre said, as Leon looked around the shop, seeing the many books and shelves that he had read, dusted, tidied and rearranged into alphabetical order over the summer, as they had been horribly out-of-order and untidy, seeing that no one, apart from Leon visited the shop and Monsieur Livre had seen no reason to keep it tidy, much like his predecessor, but Leon had convinced him to clean up and make it presentable regardless.

'Do you have it?' Leon then said, remembering what he had come for, 'The science text-book I've wanted to get and saved up for?'

'Oh, yes of course I have it! Thank you for reminding me, I would've forgotten otherwise!' Monsieur Livre chuckled, while walking over to where the text-books were, humming and muttering to himself, as he scanned the shelves.

'History, medicine, philosophy, geography- Oh, here it is!' he said triumphantly, as he pulled it off the shelf and walking back towards the counter where Leon was opening his money pouch and putting out the coins.

'Oh, put those coins away, Leon! You don't have to pay for this book! It's on me, I insist! Use your hard-earned money on something else!'

'But Monsieur..'

No, no! I insist! You've done so much for me already; it wouldn't be fair for me to accept payment!'

'Well, okay,' Leon said, uncertainly, as he put the money away, ' Thank you so much, Monsieur, for your kindness and generosity,' as Monsieur Livre handed the book over to him, firmly declining his offer to pay.

'Anything for the boy who took the time to help me out with the shop and made it sparkling clean and brand new, well, as new it can be,' Monsieur Livre said, 'Say, are you enjoying that book I gave you as payment for all your hard work?'

'I love it!' Leon said gleefully, 'It's like the original tale but with the roles reversed and it has more exciting adventures, as the hero has to travel to a castle in a faraway place with magic spells, an epic battle and a princess in disguise, I just couldn't put it down! Read it three times, as a matter of fact!'

'I knew you'd like it, this tale as old as time,' the kindly bookshop owner said, smiling at Leon, 'From the moment I saw it, I thought it would be right up your alley. Of course, it's not often that boys your age would be interested in that kind of thing, but then again, you're not like other boys.'

'I know,' Leon said.

'Mind you, from what I've been told, my predecessor knew someone who was like you.' Monsieur Livre said.

'Who's that?' said Leon, curious.

'Why, our dear Queen Belle, of course! She loved reading too and wasn't interested in being someone's 'little wife,' just like you are, well, except the 'little wife' part obviously. Because of her love for reading and non-conformity, everyone in the village thought she was odd, which is true for you.

It just goes to show that you should never bully and reject someone for being different, because one day, they might become your king or queen and rule over you, which is what happened to her majesty.'

'Indeed,' said Leon, fascinated by what he had heard. If only he hadn't been too shy to approach the queen when she had come to visit, he would've had a fascinating conversation with her and found that they had so much in common and he probably never will.

'Speaking of the queen,' said Monsieur Livre, going over to where a fading portrait of the royal family, in their best clothes, posing as any royal should, but smiling, . Underneath the portrait were the blue, gold and pink candles, which Monsieur Livre lit.

'Ten years and we still don't know what happened to them,' he said wistfully, rubbing his thumb against the portrait, ' Which is a real tragedy, since they were such a loving and kind family, very good rulers and they did wonderful things for us.

The little princess.. She was such a beauty, very kind, happy and modest, always playing games with the children like she was one of them… Leon, did you ever play with her?'

Leon shook his head no. He had wanted to play with the princess, but felt that she would never play with a boy who was a well-known social outcast, so he had stood on the side lines, watching her, too shy to talk to her, to ask her to play.

'Ah, what a pity, then. She'll probably be around your age now, maybe even a bit younger if she's still alive.'

'Do you still believe that the royal family are alive, Monsieur?'

'Depends on what you want to believe. I mean, not all the rumours are believable and without effective proof, well, you decide, basically.

And there has been no bodies, no confirmation of their deaths; otherwise, we would've had a burial and memorial service for them, even though ten years is enough time to legally declare them dead. But for me, I like to believe they're still alive and that they will return to us. The candles we light for them, will guide them home.'

There was a hushed silence, as the candles flickered, illuminating the portrait, as if to show that the flames of hope had not been extinguished.

'Well, I better get going now,' Leon said, 'I need to get my own candles and go home to Mama, as she'll probably be finished with work now. Thank you so much for the book, I'll put it to good use!'

'Anytime, Leon,' Monsieur Livre said, 'Give your mother my warmest regards and you are more than welcome to come back and work for me again.'

'Will do,' Leon said and exited the shop.

* * *

><p>As Leon walked along the streets, a flurry of activity happened around him, as people did their work, greeted each other with friendly 'bonjours', haggled with shop owners for the best price for fruits, vegetables, cheese, stale bread and buns, meat that may have been in the butcher's shop for goodness how long, women gossiping in the café and buying ridiculous-looking hats and dresses, boys heading out to hunt and training for next year's Gaston Games.<p>

There was also the sound of badly-played music drifting in the air, which was coming from the Eitenne triplets Thomas, Aurelien and Kyle, the husbands of Claudia, Laura and Paula (Thomas was Claudia's husband, Aurelien was Laura's and Kyle was Paula's) and fathers of Bridgette, Violette and Annette.

They mostly played in the tavern at night, when many people would be partying , though they complained about the awful racket that they made, ruining the atmosphere; but occasionally they would play in the square and at weddings and funerals, which they would be met with the same response, as their musical 'talent' was nothing to sing about, as anything they played from a wedding march to dancing waltzes was very off-key and tuneless, but that didn't deter them and kept on playing.

The villagers would also complain about the 'small fee' that they charged if they were playing at a special event, which turned out to be much higher and they were unhappy about having to fork out their hard-earned money for a tone-deaf band.

Leon sighed as he heard the awful notes in his ears and the same sight that often greeted him in the village. There must be more than this and it made his need to escape stronger than before.

He then saw a group of people looking sadly at the wall near the square which had a picture of the royal family similar to the one in the bookshop, that had been set up as a memorial to them a year after they disappeared. Some lit the candles underneath it, while others lay red roses and books, as they had been the royal family's most favourite things.

'It's for the lost royal family,' a little girl explained to her baby brother, as he and their mother watched her lay a single red rose near the picture.

'Rose for the royal family?' the florist said, offering one to Leon. He took it, politely made his way through the crowd and gently lay the rose, which blended in with the others, as the candles flickered near them. Leon was then reminded that he needed the candles, as quickly as possible before they were all gone. As if on cue, he heard the candle maker call out

'Candles! Get your royal family candles here! Tenth anniversary of their disappearance today! Get them before they're gone!'

Hurrying over to his stand, Leon saw that there were three candles left, to his relief.

'The three candles please, monsieur,' he said, getting out his pouch.

'Just in time, sir, we're almost out!' the candle maker said, 'Most of them have gone to the memorial over in the square,' as Leon handed over the money which he didn't spend on the text-book.

'Oh, and while you're at it, why not get the princess's eighteenth birthday candle? You'll need it for her birthday later and it's lucky that I still had one left, as they have been selling like cream cakes!' he then said, presenting Leon with the pink milestone birthday candle, the one that was studded with pink pearls.

'Thank you very much,' said Leon, as he carefully put the candles in his bag, so that his books and writing equipment wouldn't crush them.

'You're welcome, Swinekisser,' the candle maker said, muttering the last word so that Leon couldn't hear him, but hadn't done so very well.

'I beg your pardon?' Leon said, having clearly heard the last remark.

'Nothing!' the candle maker said hastily, as Leon left the stall, but he heard 'Swinekisser' again, which made him sigh heavily.

'They're never going to let this pig-kissing thing go, aren't they?' he muttered to himself, as he knew they wouldn't, as well as the many other things that made him odd in their eyes.

He then passed the place where the boys trained for the Gaston Games, in preparation for next year. They were doing push-ups, eating raw eggs to build up their muscles, like Gaston had done and practicing shooting, archery, wrestling, arm wrestling, friendly brawling and spitting, all of the events that made up the Games. Leon saw this year's runner-up, Stephane furiously doing push-ups, a muscular boy with messy brown hair.

'Hello, Stephane,' Leon said, politely, 'What are you doing?'

'341 days until next year's Gaston Games,' said Stephane, not taking notice of Leon as he was concentrating on his push-ups. ' I have to get into shape if I'm to beat Beauden! I'm sick of coming second to my most hated rival! Every time he wins something, he rubs it in my face, that show-offy, arrogant, cheating buffoon!'

'Don't waste your time, Stephane,' said Beauden, a handsome, athletic boy .

He had been the winner of the Games, despite accusations of cheating in the final event, Beer Drinking, but the lack of evidence disputed those claims. It was also no secret that he and Stephane hated each other passionately and had a fierce, long standing rivalry.

It was a common sight to see the two fighting and brawling in the square, which the men and boys considered entertainment and egged them on, fighting for the affections of the wealthy Beaufort twins, Adelaide and Anais, and getting highly competitive in the Games.

An example of this was the Friendly Brawling event, which for them, got rougher and rougher, which resulted in them nearly getting disqualified.

'Next year's Games are as good as won, by me!' Beauden said, arrogantly.

'Why, so that you can cheat again, Beauden?' said Stephane.

'I did not, cheat, Stephane! That was never proved! I bet you came up with that, so that you could get the title! Well, that only proves that you're a sore loser! Always have been, always will be!'

'Take that back, you buffoon!'

'No, I won't!'

'Then, let's practice our Friendly Brawling, shall we, _friend?'_

_'_Gladly!'

With that, the two boys started brawling, which got the attention of the other boys, except Leon, who soon tired of seeing the brawl and walked away.

* * *

><p>Under the statue of Gaston, Henri, Pierre, Francois and Jean-Luc, the four boys who made up the Muscular Men, were sitting around, talking amongst themselves and looking out for girls to leer at, before they were to go out hunting and fishing.<p>

Henri, the one who wore the red jerkin with blue trim and belt, was the leader and who idolised Gaston the most, copying his mannerisms and wearing his copper-coloured hair in a ponytail, like Gaston did.

Pierre, who wore the yellow jerkin with green trim and belt, was an unlikely member of the group due to his effeminate, vain and narcissistic personality, his slight build, his handsome appearance (he was considered the second most handsome boy in the village, after Leon, which irked him greatly) and his lack of hunting skills as he spent the time admiring himself in the mirror he always carried with him and he ran away in fear at the slightest animal sound. How and why he was in the group was a mystery.

Francois, who wore the blue jerkin with red trim and belt, was the brawniest and muscular of the group, as he was a huge boy with short brown hair and brown eyes, but was very unintelligent, only spoke a few words and was very greedy, as he ate a lot and drank all their beers when they tossed them up in the air to catch them.

Jean-Luc, the better hunter and more sensible, friendlier and kinder out of all of them, wore the green jerkin with yellow trim and belt. A well-built boy with kind hazel eyes and short, sandy dark hair with a fringe parted on either side of his head, he was the only boy who was friendly to Leon and didn't tease, act rude or bully him, and could've been his friend, if only he wasn't part of the Muscular Men.

Sadly, Jean-Luc had to be kind to Leon when he wasn't with his friends (if he could call them that) and under the watchful eye of the villagers, as he had to keep up appearances so that _he_ wasn't picked on and rejected, which was a sore point for him.

He was not impressed by his friends' behaviour towards girls and their woeful hunting skills, but acted like he was and was lucky that they were too thick to realise that Jean-Luc's feelings and taunts towards Leon were not genuine.

'Bridgette at one o'clock!' Henri called, as he saw her passing by. It was his signature call to start the hollering and leers at any girl, the more beautiful the better (girls that they and others considered 'plain' or 'ugly' didn't get a second glance) and the others would take his lead, 'You know what to do, lads!'

Immediately the others followed suit and hollered, leered and shouted out things such as

'Hey, Bridgee, how's it going love?'

'Looking good, gorgeous!'

'Flash us a smile, darling!'

'Show us your chest, sweetheart!'

'Can you introduce us to your cousins?'

Bridgette was happy to play along, like the other girls that caught their attention, blowing kisses, wiggling her hips and plumped up her chest, which made the men step up and holler like apes wanting to attract a mate. Jean-Luc played along as well, but he didn't seem to be enjoying it, but did a good job of looking like he did, for his heart was set on some other girl.

'See you at the tavern at seven, Bridgee?' said Henri.

'Sure, you big lug,' said Bridgette seductively, giving one last wave before heading towards said tavern, which was now named _La taverne de Gaston _('Gaston's Tavern') in honour of Gaston and his favourite place.

'Beaufort twins at one o'clock!' Pierre then called out in his effeminate voice, spying Adelaide and Anais walking by, twirling their parasols. Henri was irked that his second in command (which was laughable, since Pierre was not what he would call a great deputy and leader, due to his weak nature) was giving the commands when he should be doing that.

'Hey, Pierre, that's what I'm supposed to say, you flamboyant fool!' he said, angry,' I'm the leader, you're second in command and what I say goes! I give the orders and I don't take them from a weak, effeminate idiot like you!'

'Sorry, Henri!' Pierre said, stressing his syllables, 'I thought that you would be glad that I'm showing some backbone for once!'

Henri and Jean-Luc each shared an eyeroll.

* * *

><p>Adelaide and Anais Beaufort were identical twins who both had brown hair in a bun with stray bits on either side of their faces, green eyes and wore the same dress. Adelaide, the elder by four minutes, wore light green and carried a light green parasol while Anais wore dark green and carried a dark green parasol.<p>

The twins were the daughters of a wealthy merchant and the Beauforts were one of the well-off families in the village, despite losing half of their fortune when the royal family disappeared, as they were connected to them.

They were beautiful but incredibly snobby, stuck-up, rude, haughty and despised anything related to the lower classes and looked down and made fun of them and because of this were not well respected, but it didn't faze them.

They were also not impressed by the behaviour of the Muscular Men and Beauden and Stephane, who often fought each other for them and ignored their advances.

'Oh no, it's the Muscular Morons,' Anais said to her sister, as she saw them, 'They're worse than Beauden and Stephane.'

'Don't worry, dear sister,' Adelaide said, for the two rarely referred to each other by their names, ' Remember what you have to do, keep your chin up, eyes focused ahead, don't stoop to their level, ignore them and twirl your parasol.'

'Absolutely, sister,' said Anais and the two walked by, twirling their parasols and ignoring the calls of the Muscular Men-

'Cooee!'

'Hey double trouble, give us a kiss!'

'Hello, darlings!'

'Lovely day isn't it?'

'Flash us a smile, darlings! Wahey!'

The twins continued ignoring them.

'Come on, a smile don't cost nothing!'

'Give us a smile! Don't pretend you don't want to!'

But it was all for naught, as Adelaide and Anais simply took no notice of them and disappeared from their view.

'Snooty cows!' Pierre shouted after them.

'Moo,' Francois said, which confused his friends.

'What was that for?' Henri said.

'That's the sound cows make,' said Francois.

'Oh, really Francois? I wouldn't have known otherwise!' Jean-Luc said, sarcastically.

'Hey, ease up on the sarcasm there, JL,' said Henri.

'Is that any way to treat and get women?' came the voice of Leon, who had happened to be walking by. Jean-Luc gave him a small wave, but hid it when he saw Henri looking at him, ' I saw what you did to Bridgette and the twins.'

'What's it to you, Duplonk?' Henri said, nastily, 'Besides they love it!'

'Yeah, what do you know about attracting women, Duplonk?' said Pierre, eager to get on Henri's good side, ' You only know how to kiss pigs!' and they all snorted.

'Leave him alone, guys!' Jean-Luc said, 'That joke is getting old now and it's boring to keep hearing it whenever Leon is around! It's not like he wanted to kiss Cecile, he was tricked by that stupid bimbo, Violette!'

'What are you, his friend?' Henri said. Realising what he had just said in front of the group, Jean-Luc hastily said,

'Of course not, why would I be friends with someone who is self-educated, always has his nose in a book, doesn't like hunting and kisses pigs?' He didn't sound too convincing, but they bought it and Jean-Luc winked at Leon, to show that he didn't mean what he said.

'That's what I thought, Jean-Luc and if you want to be a Muscular Man and my deputy, you will not be friends with Duplonk ever!' Henri said.

'Yes, Henri, you have my word,' Jean-Luc replied.

'Seriously, Duplonk, this is the only way to attract a woman. Not by brains, not by books, not by being a smarty know-it-all, not by being a 'mama's boy', not by being a swine kisser or horse lover but by being a great hunter, having a muscular body, a winning athlete and a jerk.

Treat them mean, keep them keen I say and women love it!' Henri said arrogantly,' There is someone out there, who is very interested in you. If you quit reading and give her attention, then maybe there's still hope for you.'

'Well, if it is who I think it is, I'm not interested. I only want to marry for true love. And if behaving like Neanderthals to get women is your idea of fun, then you can have it. Good day to you.' Leon said and left.

'Oooooooh!' the men all said at once.

'What a whiny girl he is,' Henri said.

'What's a Neanderthal?' Francois said.

'What do I look like, a walking encyclopedia?' Henri replied, 'Come on, let's go hunting,' and the men promptly did that.


	10. Chapter 10

Though the boys went after most of the girls in the village, there was one that stood out from the others, one that grabbed all the attention and put any affection they had towards their potential mates second to hers. She was what they considered a true beauty who they all wanted for their wife, but she had her eye only on one.

The slender, wasp-waisted beauty with an impressive chest that turned even the most burliest and toughest men into jelly, straining out of her violet dress was sitting outside the tavern admiring herself in a mirror she was holding batting her long eyelashes against her ice-blue eyes which stared admiringly back at her in the mirror and applying lipstick on her lips, while her long, dark chocolate brown hair was being brushed, as it gleamed in the sun.

She was Amandine LeGume, a twenty-year-old woman who was the niece of Gaston and the only child of his brother, Anton, the man who had been executed for his attempted regicide on King Adam, which had happened before Amandine was born, the result of a short-lived fling with a barmaid, Genevieve La Roux and it had fuelled her hatred for the royal family as she grew up, believing them to be responsible for the deaths of her father and uncle.

She had also hated the princess for taking the attention away from her when she had visited the village.

Amandine had been raised in the tavern by her mother and in fear of losing her only daughter, Genevieve spoiled her rotten, gave in to her demands and let her do whatever she wanted, even letting her take control over their lives- anything to keep Amandine happy.

She then became used to getting her way and used her charms, beauty and master manipulation to get others to indulge her needs and wants, which they were only too happy to do, since she was the last surviving member of the LeGume family by blood and the only good thing that Anton had given the village, even if she was born out of wedlock.

Despite this, she soon became the most loved and admired girl in the village, more respected and powerful than the Beaufort twins and their admiration, attention, the single men flirting and calling out to her, the women idolising and wanting to be her and her ability to manipulate and rule over people, including her own mother and used to getting what she wanted added to her arrogant, materialistic, abusive, rude and spoilt behaviour.

The small girl who was brushing Amandine's hair was her loyal sidekick, Martine Descartes. She was the opposite of Amandine in that she was short for her age and plain looking with shoulder-length light brown hair with stray bits flying out and never stayed down no matter how many times she brushed it (which she didn't do often), with an untidy fringe.

She had green bug-like eyes, a pudgy nose and wore a lavender top with purple patterns and trim with three-quarter sleeves, a purple skirt and light red shoes. LeFou was her mentor and gave her advice of serving a LeGume, like he did with Gaston.

Like Leon, Martine had also been teased (mostly about her looks), but she had chosen to deal with it another way. Amandine, feeling sorry for the girl and needing a sidekick, that would be loyal to her, would cater to her needs without any questions and obey her orders no matter how demeaning they were, picked her.

Martine, being the naïve, gullible, wide-eyed and easily dominated person she was, immediately jumped at the chance to have immunity from being teased and to bask in Amandine's glory. Since then, no one dared made fun of Martine again, instead respecting her as long as she remained Amandine's sidekick.

In her gratitude and not aware of her true nature, Martine became extremely loyal to Amandine, obeyed her every command, followed her obediently like a little pet dog, catered to her every whim and did anything and everything to assist and please her friend, even if it meant hurting others or doing things that she wouldn't normally do.

Too caught up in her role and relishing the glory than Amandine had, Martine willingly put up with being abused and mistreated by her, which happened all too often.

No matter what she did, it wasn't good enough and poor Martine's only 'rewards' for her work were hurtful insults, smacks to the head and was forbidden to talk to Jean-Luc, whom she had a crush on (as did he), which upset her deep down, but had to hide it and still kept serving Amandine.

She couldn't see how pathetic it made her, not being her own person and being a lackey to a cruel, controlling woman but no one could see it, as Amandine hid it behind a mask of beauty and charm.

* * *

><p>As Martine duly continued brushing, Amandine sighed admiringly at her reflection, liking what she saw- the perfect, flawless, ivory-white, heart-shaped face carefully made up, the cat-like ice blue eyes, a trait from her father and uncle and the red rose lips.<p>

Her beauty was enough to give Snow White a run for her prince, to make Aphrodite, Venus, Freyja and Hathor look like mere mortals, put Sleeping Beauty to shame and to make the Bimbette cousins and Beaufort twins cry with envy.

How was it that she was so beautiful, so perfect and could make even the toughest men fall to their knees and beg her to marry him? It was something she didn't think about, as long as she kept her looks and men wrapped around her little finger, as she recited a poem she made up herself

_Mirror, mirror, do you see?_

_Is there no one more beautiful than me?_

'Why no one, dear Amandine, for you and you alone are the most beautiful in the land,' a silly, high-pitched voice said behind her, as if making the mirror talk to her.

'Martine, I know that's you doing that stupid voice. Cut that out and finish brushing my hair. And do it properly! Yesterday, you got lazy and skipped a few strokes and some bits felt like rats tails!' said Amandine, turning around to see Martine with a goofy grin on her face.

'Yes, Amandine, sorry Amandine,' Martine said, ' I thought that you would be flattered, since what I said is true.'

'Indeed, my froggy-faced doofus,' said Amandine, pinching Martine on her arm with her sharp, manicured purple nails, which made her recoil, 'Now how many strokes have you done on my hair? Got to keep it shiny and soft, you know. It's a shame I can't say the same about that manky, greasy, rat tailed, sad excuse for your hair.'

'One hundred strokes, exactly, Amandine,' Martine proudly reported like brushing her hair was a special privilege and task that she and she alone was only allowed to do.

'Excellent,' said Amandine, running her fingers down her hair, the gleam shining like a chocolate waterfall, which made Martine look enviously at it, wishing it was hers.

'Oh, to have such lovely, lush, long hair like yours,' she sighed admirably, seeing it neatly fall down to her waist, like it usually did.

'Well, maybe if you actually took the time to wash and brush that disgusting, manky mop that you have the misfortune to call your hair, which makes me sick just looking at it, as do your slimy, froggy eyes and piggy nose, that could be possible, thought I wouldn't get your hopes up.' Amandine said, nastily.

'But that's how my hair always look, Amandine!' Martine said, 'Even when I do brush it, it just sticks back up! Look!' as she used her brush to groom her hair, only for the stray bits to bounce back up into their normal position.

'Like your hair can be as good as mine, you're dreaming Martine, as you will never be as beautiful as me.' Amandine said, getting up from her seat and dusting some imaginary specks from her dress.

'How do I look?' she said, swaying her hips and twirling around, which was a daily routine of hers or whenever she bought a new dress, which she would twirl around, parading herself and ask Martine for her opinion and she would always respond with,

'Beautiful and goddess-like as always!' which she did promptly.

'Good, that's what I like to hear,' Amandine said, as she plumped up her chest, which made a passing boy stop and stare lustily. Amandine calmly shooed him away with a simple hand wave and the boy headed off, no doubt to tell his friends and anyone who was willing to listen about him getting a glimpse of her impressive chest.

'You know how to lure them in, Amandine,' said Martine, 'it's no wonder all the boys love you and want to marry you. They just can't resist your beauty and charms!'

'Indeed they can't. Like flies in a honeypot, they stick to me. But there's one boy that I have my eye on. The lucky boy who will be the envy of the others when he becomes my husband!'

'Ooooh, how exciting!' Martine said, jumping up and down like an excited puppy, 'Who is he?'

'You're a smart girl, Martine, ' Amandine said with heavy sarcasm, for she knew Martine was a few flowers short of a garden, ' Why don't you guess?'

Martine screwed up her face, for guessing games were never her strong point and Amandine often used it to exploit that fact.

'Um, Henri?' she said.

'The leader of the Muscular Men, or should I say the Musher Men? Absolutely not! Why would I marry anyone who is mocking my dear uncle's memory by dressing and acting like him, mocking the very things he was famous for? He and his idiot friends are useless hunters and disgraceful competitors at the Games! Not for me, not in a month of Sundays!'

'Jean-Luc isn't,' Martine said, dreamily, 'He's sweet, kind, friendly and a brilliant hunter, not to mention he came third in the Games!'

'Martine, do you remember what I say to you, what I repeatedly remind you about?' Amandine said, ' If you want to be my sidekick, you are not to talk about or talk to Jean-Luc! If it wasn't for me, no body would know who you are and he's just as bad as the others!'

'But..' said Martine, but Amandine covered her mouth.

'Not another word!' snapped Amandine, 'Carry on with your guessing! We haven't got all day!'

'Okay, Beauden? The winner of the Games this year?' Martine said.

'That, cheating, cocky, show-offy, thick-headed idiot, who I was forced to kiss as part of his prize for coming first in the Games, even though he didn't deserve it? No!'

'Stephane?'

'Wrong again! Come on, Martine, use that mush you call your brain! You're not even trying!'

'I don't know, Amandine! Just tell me!'

'Try, you doofus!'

'Um, Antoine?'

'Antoine? The warden of the Maison de Lunes? I don't think so!'

'Then, who is it then?'

Fed up with this game, Amandine said,

'Alright, mush for brains, your stupidity has once again reared its ugly, bug-eyed head, as I knew it would. The future Monsieur LeGume is over there!' Amandine said, pointing to where Leon was walking along the streets, reading his book.

'Him? Leon Dupont?' Martine said, 'The self-educated boy who is the son of dressmaker Madeleine Dupont and whose father was accidently shot at the Games?

The one who kissed Cecile last year?

The boy who everyone calls 'Duplonk' and 'Swinekisser'?

You want him as your husband?'

'Yes, Martine, he's the one for me,' said Amandine.

'But why him?'

'He's the most handsome boy in the village, contrary to what you said earlier, as he is the one more beautiful as me. And in my eyes, that makes him the best and isn't that what I deserve?'

'Of course you do, but you do realise that he's considered odd, since he doesn't hunt and fish and likes reading. Not to mention that he kissed a pig.'

'Yes, yes, but I'm willing to overlook those things and get reading out of his system. Imagine, Martine, when Leon and I are married, we'll be the most beautiful and powerful couple in the village!

Uncle Gaston might not have been successful in getting that wench who was our queen, Belle,'- Amandine spat as she said the name Belle, 'but I won't make the same mistakes he did!

I always get what I want and that is having Leon as my husband, my trophy and a hard-earned prize to be won! Now, Martine, come and help me woo Leon!' she said.

'Come on,' while clicking her fingers like one would do when calling a dog and Martine obediently trotted behind her.

'Three feet behind me,' Amandine reminded her and Martine duly did so.

'If only I could get my true love,' she muttered sadly to herself, thinking about Jean-Luc. _Maybe someday_, she thought, knowing that would be impossible, as long as she was in Amandine's presence.

* * *

><p>Leon was nearly at the path on the way home when he gave a groan as he saw the very person he had hoped never to see, who he took great lengths to avoid whenever he was in town, who once had never paid attention to him when they were children, but as they became adults, became infatuated with him.<p>

He never understood why, out of all the boys in the village, he was the object of her desire and unwanted affection (but he knew it was because he was handsome).

It was Amandine, followed by Martine, as she literally leapt in front of him, blocking his path and gave him her smile, the one that made all the boys melt and stare hungrily and lustily at her, which they were doing as she did that but Amandine took no notice of them, as her eyes were focused solely on Leon, her prize to be won.

Leon may have let himself be tricked by Violette into dating her, but he was way too smart to fall for the charms of Amandine as he could see who she really was- a cruel, selfish, spoiled, manipulative, rude and abusive woman behind the façade of a lovely beauty and repeatedly rejected her advances, but that didn't deter her and only stepped it up.

It was like the more he rejected her, the more she wanted him.

'Well, hello Leon,' Amandine said, seductively, smiling at him and putting one hand on a nearby wall, making her chest strain against her dress, which made the boys stare like children in a sweet shop and Leon uncomfortable, avoiding looking at her chest.

'Bonjour, Amandine,' Leon said politely but clearly not interested in her advances, 'Bonjour, Martine,' he said, acknowledging the small girl whom he felt sorry for, as he had seen her be abused by Amandine.

'Hello, Leon,' Martine said, only to be shushed by Amandine.

Amandine then put her arm around Leon, making him feel uncomfortable at her touch, while digging into his bag, not caring for privacy or respecting his things.

'Hey, those are my things!' he said, as she pulled out the royal family candles, scowling at them like they were her deadly enemy and carelessly threw them on the ground.

'I paid good money for those candles,' Leon protested, as he picked them up, which were still intact, despite being roughly dropped.

'Money better spent on hunting gear,' said Amandine, as she continued digging in his bag. She found the science text-book and frowned at it.

'A science text-book? Seriously, Leon, you call this fun?' she said, before finding the book that Leon had been reading and flicked though it without bothering to read it properly.

'Amandine, may I have my book back please?' Leon said, irritated, as he reached out for it, but Amandine kept it out of his reach.

'How can you read this boring book? There's no pictures, the hero's a bore and the princess is a hideous monster! Talk about bad writing! The plot has more holes than a Swiss cheese factory!' Amandine said.

Leon, trying to restrain his anger over Amandine's unfavourable opinion about his favourite book, calmly said,

'Well some people use their imagination, something that your pretty little head doesn't have. When they read a book, they picture the story in their head, they see the characters come alive and they feel like they're part of the story, as if they are actually there interacting with the characters..'

'Oh, blah, blah, blah, that's all I'm hearing! said Amandine, ' Leon, it's time you thought about other things besides reading and studying.'

'Like what?' said Leon.

'Like.. me for instance,' said Amandine, using her fingers to trail along Leon's arm, which he brushed off, 'I'm nearly of marriageable age and no future husband of mine is going to waste his time reading silly fairy tales!'

'What do you mean your future husband? And who is the poor, unfortunate soul willing to sacrifice his life for you?'

'Why you, of course! You're the perfect husband for me, Leon!' said Amandine, which made the boys gasp at hearing the news.

'Amandine wants to marry Duplonk? That's not right!' gasped Pierre.

'Why is she wasting her time with him? She can do so much better than that! Like me, I practically worship and idolise her uncle and act like him! She should like that, would she not?' Henri said.

'At least I got a kiss from her, you losers,' Beauden said, smugly.

'What's this sudden interest in me, Amandine?' said Leon, 'You never once glanced in my direction when we were children and now that we're adults, all of a sudden, you want me as your husband? Why is that?'

'Yes, I was the belle of the village and you were the social outcast back then, but when you grew up, you became very handsome, more so than Pierre and Beauden combined and I like that!' Amandine said.

'The whole village thinks you're odd enough as it is Leon,' she then continued, ' Men aren't supposed to be reading and studying, they are meant to be hunting, fishing, competing in the Gaston Games, getting drunk in the tavern and providing for their families!

And what am I supposed to say when people ask me about you? 'Oh, my husband likes reading and is self-educated! He doesn't hunt and fish like yours do!' Not a great conversation starter!'

'But aside from that, I think that we'll make a great couple, Leon, we have so much in common. I know what it's like not having a father in your life,' which made Leon twitch.

How on earth could he have ANYTHING in common with that shameless harlot? True, they no longer had their fathers, but that was as far as it went and they had died in different circumstances.

'That's true, but Papa was accidently shot by an idiot Gaston Games competitor and he didn't even want to go there in the first place, whereas yours chose to commit attempted regicide against the king, so he brought his death on himself' said Leon.

'That's not a crime is it? He _attempted _to, it's not like he succeeded, so it can hardly be serious and he didn't deserve to be executed horribly, leaving me fatherless and being raised by my mother by herself, didn't he?' Amandine said, shedding a fake tear, hoping to get sympathy, in which Martine put her arm around her, but Leon wasn't fooled.

'Amandine, do you even know what regicide is?' he said.

'No, what is it?' she replied.

'It's the DELIBERATE murder of a monarch, which is INDEED a very SERIOUS crime, as your father had attempted to kill the king for no reason other to avenge his brother and also tried to harm the queen and their daughter, which is why he very deservedly got executed so that he could never harm anyone again!'

'So he should have killed him, because that beastly king was not only responsible for the death of my father but my Uncle Gaston as well, robbing me of the chance to know him!

I HATE HIM, HIS WENCH OF A QUEEN AND THEIR BRATTY, ATTENTION GRABBING DAUGHTER!' Amandine screamed at the top of her lungs, picking up a glass ornament that was nearby and threw it furiously at the memorial, smashing it, shocking the people near it.

Seeing what she had done and the shocked villagers looking at her, Amandine composed herself, smiled and waved at them as if nothing was wrong. They smiled back and carried on with what they were doing.

'Anyway,' Amandine said, calm again, ' Why don't you come to the tavern later on, Leon? I've just got myself a beautiful new dress that is screaming for your opinion and to see me in it! And while you're at it, you can have some beers with the boys, to show them that you can be a normal man for once and listen to the Etiennes play _wonderful _music. Doesn't that sound good?'

'Maybe some other time,' said Leon, 'Now if you would excuse me, I have plans and they don't involve talking to you. I have to get home to Mama to help her with dinner.'

'Oh, your mother!' sneered Martine, hoping to impress Amandine, ' Madame Independent, too good to work with the ladies in the dress shop, because she doesn't like their snooty attitudes? Someone needs to take her down a peg or two, that quirky weirdo!'

'How dare you talk about my mother in that horrible way!' shouted Leon. Unfortunately for Martine, Amandine was not impressed with her remark and hoping to win Leon's favour, said,

'Yeah, Martine, how dare you badmouth my future mother-in-law! What is wrong with you? Maybe I ought to take _you _down a peg!' she said, hitting Martine on the head.

* * *

><p>Fed up with Amandine and not wanting to stay in the village any longer, Leon was finally able to head home.<p>

'What's wrong with him?' said Pierre, as he had watched the scene and Leon rejecting Amandine.

'He's crazy,' Francois said.

'No, he's not, he knows what's up with her,' Jean-Luc said, but quietly, for he was also not impressed by Amandine, but as he had to do, act like he did.

'She's beautiful!' Henri, Beauden and Stephane said together.

'You know, Amandine, I don't think Leon likes you,' said Martine, as she and Amandine watched him walk down the path to his cottage,

'Oh, he does alright,' Amandine replied, 'He's just playing hard to get, that's all.

So be it, it only makes me want him more. Mark my words, Martine, by the end of the week, I'll be Leon's wife!'

Amandine was determined to make good on her promise and she didn't care what she had to do or who she hurt to ensure that she got it. For she always got what she wanted and Leon would be no exception.

* * *

><p><em>So there you go, a relative of Gaston lives in the village and is just like him in many ways. This was a fun chapter to write, sorry if it's a bit long and you get to meet Leon's mother, Madeleine in the next chapter. <em>

_Thanks to those who read and reviewed and Happy New Year!_


	11. Chapter 11

The sun was beginning to set as Leon, who was relieved to be away from Amandine and the village for the day, approached his cottage and went to the animal pen to feed the chickens, sheep and goat, as well as brushing and grooming Sabine.

'What a day in the village, Sabine,' Leon sighed, as he brushed the horse down and she whinnied in agreement, 'First I get teased about the pig-kissing again and then Amandine, the most despicable and annoying woman I've ever met, leaps in front of me, goes through my private things, steals my book and calls it boring, says men shouldn't waste their time reading and now she wants to marry me!

Me! The husband of that selfish, abusive, manipulative, brainless harlot! The boys might be stupid enough to fall for her charms, but not me!' He sang a little tune, something that was based off an old song he once learned from one of his books, substituting some of the words.

_Monsieur Amandine, can you just see it?_

_Madame Leon, my little wife_

_No way, not her! I guarantee it! I want so much more than this provincial life!_

Sabine nickered in amusement, as Leon finished singing.

'You're on to it, girl,' said Leon, chuckling, as he finished brushing her and draped a blanket over her, nuzzled her goodnight and fed the animals. Of all the many things that added to Leon's desire to leave the village, Amandine, with her unwanted seduction and talk of marriage, was now top of the list, as he looked at the cottage, as the animals eagerly ate their food, while the goat was quite content to chew on a can he found.

The cottage, which was home to Leon and his mother, Madeleine ever since he was born and had remained living there even after the death of his father, was the very one that Belle and Maurice had lived in. Before Leon was born, his parents lived in a small farmhouse on the outskirts of the village, which had been horribly cramped, unsanitary and dilapidated, which was not the ideal place to bring up a baby, but was the only house that they could afford at the time.

Tired of living in unsanitary conditions and needing a cosy, spacious, clean place for their coming baby, Madeleine and Paul, Leon's father, by some act of fate, were able to buy the cottage from Maurice, who was happy to have sold it after two years of not having any occupants and was in a state of neglect, but the Duponts fixed it up, while adding their own things such as their own animals- Sabine, who occupied Phillipe's old stall, a few chickens, two sheep and a goat.

However, they had decided to keep the weather vane, water wheel and the binoculars near the door, the things that Maurice had invented when he lived there, in gratitude to the eccentric, but kind old man, the father and father-in-law of the king and queen, who gave them their home and to honour him when he disappeared along with his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter.

They were also honoured that their home was once where Queen Belle lived, but even though Madeleine had believed that it would make them more respected in the village, she had been sadly mistaken.

Like her son, Madeleine was also looked down and ridiculed due to her independent streak, individuality, slight quirkiness and working as a dressmaker at home rather than at the dress shop and encouraging Leon to read, as she had done when he was growing up, helping him when he was first learning, but Madeleine didn't really care, as long as she was happy and doing what she wanted, which she had taught Leon to do.

* * *

><p>After finishing his chores and picking some herbs from the garden, Leon walked inside the cottage, eager to rest for the night after the long day he had, so he could get up early to do his studies with the new text-book and to continue reading his book.<p>

'Is that you, Leon?' Madeleine called out, as he entered the kitchen and found her chopping up carrots for the vegetable soup she was making for dinner, which was bubbling away on the stove, which meant she had finished work for the day.

'Yes, Mama, it's me,' Leon replied, kissing her, noticing that she sounded irritated which he knew that she had a bad day and was going to let out her grievances in a rant, like she usually did, as she was not one to bottle up her emotions, letting them out like she was cleansing herself. She was also chopping up the carrots in a furious way, but was careful not to cut herself.

Madeleine was in her early forties, but looked ten years younger and still had a trim figure. She barely had any wrinkles visible and not a streak of grey was seen in her curly dark hair. She didn't take much notice of it, like Leon never took notice of his looks, putting it down to good genes, a healthy lifestyle and not wearing any lethal make up (like lead-based powder, for example) unlike most of the well-dressed women who did.

She had hazel eyes (Leon had inherited his light-brown hair and brown eyes from his father) and wore a deep blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, the same way as Leon wore his, a sky blue knee-length skirt , white stockings and brown lace-up boots, which was unusual for a woman, let alone a dressmaker to wear with a knee-length skirt, but Madeleine was expressing her individuality, as she didn't like wearing dresses, flat shoes or heels. In her hair, she wore a blue headband which helped keep the hair off her face.

Madeleine preferred to work at home, as she liked to work independently and she didn't like the attitudes of the ladies in the dress shop, who in turn regarded her as being too good for them and shunned her, only talking to her when she came into the shop and even then, they put her down and sneered at her designs and dresses, as they, in their eyes, were better than theirs and were jealous of her.

She was also criticised for not remarrying after Paul's death and having a man by her side, but she had promised him that she wouldn't and was able to manage without a new husband and stressed to Leon enough that she could take care of herself, but he insisted on staying with her.

'How was your day, Mama?' Leon casually asked. Madeleine gave a click of her tongue and sighed. As much as she loved her job and the nice customers that came since they didn't listen to the negative hype about her, there were times that she lost her patience after dealing with rude customers, unfavourable opinions about what she made, in spite of her making wonderful, beautiful and well-received dresses, purely out of their jealousy.

They would find faults and nit-pick at even the littlest detail and it seemed that today had been one of these days and Leon, in anticipation of what was about to happen, was ready to listen to his mother, as she got her frustrations and whatever else was bothering her off her chest, like he did with her and Sabine.

'You wouldn't believe the day, I've had, Leon,' she said calmly, for she never raised her voice, ' I had the two rudest customers come in today for fittings- the Beaufort twins, Adelaide and what's-her-name, the one who wears the dark green dress, Anna, or Nastia, something like that,'

'Anais,' said Leon, screwing up his face, as he didn't like the twins as well, but they were angels compared to Amandine.

'Yes, that's it. Quite an odd name if you ask me. Anyway, anyway, those two spoiled brats whined and complained the whole time- they didn't like the material I used, they hated the tea I gave them and Adelaide called me a 'clumsy, useless cow!' when I accidently pricked her with a pin. And when I was done, they demanded that I use the most expensive, imported silk from China for their dresses!

Do they think that I have the money to buy imported silk? Well, I've got news for you, darlings, I don't! Not all of us live in the lap of luxury like you do, and don't you even realise that half your fortune disappeared with the royal family? Obviously not! Spoilt little pigs!' Madeleine ranted, while Leon listened, rather enjoying it.

'And then,' Madeleine continued, eager to air her grievances to whoever was listening, which was Leon, ' I go into the dress shop to show my face and my latest designs and they look at me like I've got the plague or something! Yes, they did look at my designs and the green-eyed monster reared its ugly head, as they said that my designs were 'so hideous that they wouldn't even be fit for the queen to wear!'

I then said, ' Well, they're ten times better than what you can come up with. Look at that lacy dress you made, Sandrine! It has more holes than Swiss cheese and the lace has the texture of a potato sack!'

Then, they got angry and said, 'Get out, Madeleine, we will not have you say such hurtful things about our dresses!' I said, 'This is the reason why I work at home, so I don't have to tolerate jealous, bitter, snobby, inadequate dressmakers like you bringing down successful ones like me! Good day to you,' and left. Sometimes, my customers and fellow dressmakers really test my patience!' Madeleine huffed.

'You always say that,' Leon reminded the grumpy woman.

'I know, but it just frustrates me! Aside from that, I do love my work and you've been very good at listening to me rant on about my problems,' said Madeleine, 'I just feel much better letting go of my frustrations rather than bottling them up,' while stirring the soup.

'I think that you make the most beautiful dresses, Mama. It doesn't matter what some snobby ladies think. They're your own unique and wonderful designs and they will take you far,' said Leon, while looking at the mannequins in the small living room, which had dresses in various stages of completion.

Dresses of all colours of the rainbow, deep royal colours, pastels and jewel colours, silk for the well-off people, cotton and velvet, decorated with lace and pearls all done by Madeleine without any help from her fellow dressmakers.

'You really believe that, Leon?' said Madeleine.

'I always have,' Leon said, hugging her.

'Ah, you're sweet for saying that,' Madeleine said, 'But enough about my woes, how was your day? Did you get your studies done? Did you have a nice time in town?'

'Yes, I did my mathematics and got the science text-book I wanted. Monsieur Livre said I could have it for nothing and he sends you his regards. I also got the royal family candles as well.' Leon said.

'What a nice man,' said Madeleine, 'and it's good you got those candles, I thought that they would be sold out! Light them up, but you might have to get rid of the wax on the plate though,' as Leon got the candles out of his bag and went over to the fire place, where they usually went on the plate, a souvenir from Belle and Adam's wedding, under the portrait of his father.

Seeing the gloopy, melted gold, blue and pink wax from previous candles stuck to the plate, he carefully pried it off, so as not to damage it, revealing the picture of the king and queen starting to fade. He then delicately arranged the candles on it, got an already lit candle and lit the three rose candles.

'Mama,' Leon said, while lighting the candles, 'Can I tell you something?'

'Leon, dear, you can tell me anything, you know that,' said Madeleine, seeing that something was bothering him and thought it would be better to get it off his chest. He let out a breath and said,

'Do you think I'm..odd? That what the villagers say about me is true?'

'Odd? My own son? Now why would you think that?' said Madeleine.

'Well, it's just that, I don't feel like I fit in, that I don't have anyone to talk to apart from Monsieur Livre, especially after what happened with Violette and me with the pig-kissing; even though I've lived here all my life, but I've never been one of them.' Leon said, in an almost sad tone.

'Still haven't let it go, huh?' Madeleine said, sympathetically,' Don't worry, eventually they'll get bored of it, if you don't let them see that it's getting to you and it's getting old anyway. And you haven't really done much to make yourself accessible to people,' she said the last sentence quietly, as she knew Leon had always been independent like her and kept to himself, never really interacting with the other children.

Not that he was unfriendly, far from it, but the other children always bullied him, hid his books, never let him join in their games, told the princess, when she visited and played with them not to play with him, bigger boys threw things at him, teased and made jokes about him and made him feel like an outcast.

Leon may have been lonely during his childhood and early adolescence, but he found comfort in his books and Sabine, where he could escape into another world and forget his problems.

'What about Jean-Luc? He's always been friendly to you,' said Madeleine.

'Only when he isn't around the Muscular Men, then he too joins in the bullying and teasing,' said Leon, even though deep down, he knew that Jean-Luc didn't really mean it and that he actually liked him.

'It is a shame that Jean-Luc had to get mixed up with those idiot boys, since he's such a nice boy and very friendly and a far better hunter than them. Why he is a Muscular Man, I don't know, but he doesn't seem happy being with them,' Madeleine said and Leon agreed.

'Well, what about that LeGume girl, Amandine? She's very beautiful and seems to be very taken by you,' Leon screwed up his face.

'Oh, she's beautiful alright and rude, arrogant, manipulative, selfish and cruel.. Oh, Mama, she's not for me. Just today, she tried to seduce me and talked about marriage! She wants to marry me and I know it isn't for love!'

'I see what you mean. Well, let me tell you something, Leon, there really is no hope for that silly girl.

She's the illegitimate child of that boorish, try-hard idiot Anton, yet gets lavished with gifts and attention just because she's the last LeGume, rules over her poor mother, Genevieve like a queen, makes the boys fall to their knees and do anything to please her.

And as for her father and that no-good uncle of hers, Gaston, they got what they deserved. The apple never falls far from the tree and that is certainly true with Amandine,' said Madeleine.

'Well, I definitely don't want to marry her, Mama. I only want to marry someone I truly love and who loves me as I am. And I don't want to leave you yet, I promised Papa that I would take care of you, should anything happen to him,' said Leon, looking at the picture of his father, as the candles flickered.

'I know you promised your father that and you never make promises you don't intend to keep, but you shouldn't let your life revolve around me, I can take care of myself. And one day, things will be very different. Your luck will change and the right girl will be waiting for you. You just have to find her, that's all.'

'When, when will my luck change and when will I find the girl for me?'

'Probably when you least expect it,' said Madeleine. Being the caring, loving and understanding mother she was, the subject was soon dropped and the two enjoyed a quiet meal of vegetable soup and bread in comfortable silence.

* * *

><p>Retiring to bed for the evening, Leon sat in bed in his small room reading the science text-book to see the experiments he needed to do and if he had the materials to do so.<p>

He saw on his desk his science kit, which was a few test tubes and some small chemicals, adequate enough and harmless so if he did cause an explosion (which thankfully was rare), so he decided that he would start his studies with science tomorrow morning, followed by history and some more mathematics.

He then picked up his book and read it, absorbed into a world where Amandine, the Muscular Men, Bimbette cousins, Beaufort twins, Stephane and Beauden did not exist and he could be who he wanted to be._ If only that could happen in real life,_ he thought.

Looking out the singular window, Leon could see a shadowy silhouette of a castle and an unusual green star shining above it. Looking at it, he whispered, using the words from his book, which could well be exactly what he was wishing too-

_I want adventure in the great wide somewhere_

_I want it more than I can tell_

_And for once it might be grand_

_To have someone understand_

_I want so much more than they got planned_

He then added what he had sung earlier in the day

_You may think it's all a dream_

_But I can make it real_

_If I believe_

_In the life I want to lead_

Tired out from the day he had, Leon blew out the candle on his bedside table and fell asleep, not knowing that the green star had heard his wish and was about to grant it in someway he could have never imagined.

* * *

><p>As morning dawned the next day, Leon was woken up by the sounds of his mother clattering around the house and got out of bed, to find her outside wearing her traveller's cape and hitching up Sabine, obviously intending to go somewhere.<p>

'Mama, where are you going?' he asked her, for Madeleine had never travelled anywhere by herself.

' I'm going to Molyneaux, as I have heard that they have imported Chinese silk which would be perfect for the Beaufort twins' dresses. I'll probably be gone for a couple of days at least.' Madeleine responded.

'By yourself? You've never done that before and it's dangerous and you might get lost. Are you sure you want to do this?' Leon said, concerned.

'Of course, how else am I going to get that silk? But don't worry about me, Leon, I'll be fine! There's a first time for everything and I'll be careful. I have a map with me and I'll stick to the paths. Besides, you'll get the house to yourself and you can read and do your studies in peace!' Madeleine said.

Although worried about his mother's intended journey, Leon had to agree as he could do his science experiments without endangering anyone should he cause an explosion (not that would happen, as he was very careful).

'Alright, Mama, just be careful, that's all,' Leon said.

'Thank you, dear,' said Madeleine gratefully, 'Take care of the place and animals, Leon and I'll see you in a couple of days. Love you lots!' as she and Sabine trotted off in the distance.

'Goodbye Mama!' Leon called out, watching the two figures become more and more distant from his sight.

'Please be safe,' he whispered, as he went back inside.

* * *

><p><em>So Madeleine is heading off near the forest and you can only guess what is going to happen next.<em>

_Please read and review, as I give you the first chapter for 2015!_


	12. Chapter 12

Madeleine had chosen a good day to travel to Molyneaux, which was the largest town close to the village; as the sun was shining brilliantly and there was hardly any breeze, so she didn't have to worry about having her hair blowing in her face or the map being blown away.

As she and Sabine trotted along the meadow, she took in the beautiful scenery around her and she could see why Leon liked to go out there to read and do his studies.

In the distance was the dark, haunting, forbidding and uninviting forest, the very one that no one, not alone, not even in groups dared to go, for fear of never being seen again, being eaten by wolves or worse, being captured by the so-called beast rumoured to lurk there and dragged off to who knows where.

But Madeleine wasn't too worried as she, like Leon did, didn't believe the rumours and the forest wasn't on the route to Molyneaux, or so she thought as she was never really good at reading maps, figuring out and taking directions and estimating time, which was not good for someone taking a solo journey.

Madeleine was hoping the journey would be worth it, as she rode on, her money pouch on her belt jiggling with the coins that the Beaufort twins had given her the previous day partly to pay her (albeit reluctantly) and partly to get the imported Chinese silk they wanted or rather demanded for their new dresses.

The ladies at the dress shop, as much as she disliked them, told her that Molyneaux had the silk at a grand materials shop for a reasonable price, costing less that it would in the village, yet of good quality that would keep the twins happy.

'Isn't this going to be a great journey, Sabine?' Madeleine said cheerily, as the horse trotted, excited about the chance to travel by herself and see new things, even though she was getting silk for two spoiled girls' dresses, without a care in the world.

Sabine, unlike Madeleine, wasn't so sure.

Had it been Leon riding her, she would be relaxed and happy since he was the more sensible of the two and the one she was most close to, but with Madeleine in charge, Sabine was certain that something was bound to go wrong and seemed to be acting out of character, and snorted in response to Madeleine's comment, as if to say, 'I'm not sure about this, I don't really trust you to get us there safely. You could get us lost!'

'You're such a Negative Nelly, Sabine!' Madeleine sighed, 'You have no faith in me whatsoever and I can assure you that NOTHING is going to happen to us. You've been hanging around Leon too much and you've becoming just like him!'

Sabine just snorted, not wanting to debate this any longer.

'Just a few hours more and we'll be in Clarat to spend the night there and tomorrow morning, we'll head off again and before you know it, we'll be in Molyneaux by midday, get the silk and head home again!' Madeleine said confidently,, which made Sabine twitch nervously.

* * *

><p>Mid-afternoon, Madeleine stopped at a nearby valley, so that Sabine could rest and have a drink from the river, while she ate her lunch and looked at the map to see where she needed to take the turn into Clarat, which was a small hamlet before Molyneaux, where travellers who went there spent a night there in the inn before heading off to their destination the next day.<p>

However her inability to read maps was soon proven when she couldn't make sense of it and looked at it like it had done something to offend her and she screwed up her face in frustration, as she battled to hold the map.

Leon would have no trouble with it, since he had taught himself geography and would be able to tell her where to go, but she had to do it by herself and was struggling with it badly.

'Darn maps, I can never figure them out,' she muttered,' Honestly, how can I, a successful dressmaker, make beautiful dresses yet can't read a map? It just doesn't make sense! If only Leon was here, with his self-taught geography, he can help me and it would be so easy. But I have to do it myself!' she sighed.

Then suddenly, like some act of fate, a gust of wind out of nowhere, blew the map away and Sabine looked worriedly as she saw the map fly away in the distance but Madeleine didn't seem to be bothered.

'Ah well, I'm not too keen on maps anyway, they're more trouble than they're worth,' she said, seemed to be glad to be rid of the offending piece of paper, but Sabine whinnied nervously, out of character for this brave and tough horse who wasn't worried or scared about anything, but she was already having serious doubts about this journey and Madeleine's inadequate map reading skills.

Now that the map was gone, she wasn't confident that Madeleine wouldn't get them to Clarat and Molyneaux safely, since she wasn't good at directions and take a wrong turn into somewhere dangerous like the dark, forbidding forest and whinnied loudly, which caught the attention of Madeleine, who finally noticed that the horse was acting strangely.

'Calm down, Sabine!' said Madeleine, stroking the nervous and agitated horse, 'What is the matter with you? This isn't like you to act like this, you're usually so brave and tough and don't scare easily! Everything is going to be alright, we'll just have to use basic instincts and rely on any road signs and paths. After all, what's going to happen between here and Clarat?

Come on, girl, it's starting to get dark, we better get going,' Somewhat calm, Sabine reluctantly trotted back on the path.

'Good girl,' Madeleine said soothingly, as they headed on. Sabine had no choice but to trust her master but she still had a feeling that something bad was going to happen and it was about to present itself in a dark and nasty way.

* * *

><p>After a few hours, as the sun was setting, Madeleine and Sabine, having missed the turn into Clarat, approached a fork in the path which led to two different paths. The left one looked like the best option, as it was bright and inviting with trees and wildflowers lining it.<p>

The same couldn't be said for the right path, which was dark, bleak with skeleton-like trees devoid of any leaves and it was the one that led to..the dangerous forest. A distant howl could be heard nearby, which indicated that wolves were not far away and were looking for fresh meat.

'Oh dear, Sabine, we've seen to have missed the turn,' said Madeleine. Sabine gave a snort as if to say, 'Oh, you think?!'

'Don't get smart with me, madam, I've just had about enough with your behaviour today. Now, it looks like we have to take one of the paths. Maybe if we're lucky, it will take us to Clarat, but which one is it? Decisions, decisions..'

Madeleine, while looking back and forward at the paths, did some mental calculating in her mind about which one would be the best option. The left path, while bright and safe-looking, was too narrow and would take longer to get to Clarat, if it went there at all.

The right path, as dark and gloomy as it was, was wider and looked accommodating, according to Madeleine and for all she knew (which wasn't very much) it looked like a quicker way and with the darkening sky, Madeleine made the decision to take the right path and urged Sabine to head that way, but the horse refused to move.

'Come on, Sabine, we're heading this way,' she firmly said, pulling the reins. But Sabine knew that, contrary what her master thought, the path was indeed dangerous and, as she normally did when whoever was riding her insisted on taking a dangerous route, still refused to move, in spite of Madeleine's commands.

'Oh, Sabine, don't do this!' Madeleine grunted, annoyed that the horse was using her instincts against her. It didn't work like that, since she was the master, but Sabine continued ignoring her and staying where she was, only moving her head towards the safer path, hoping that her silly master would notice and take the correct path, but Madeleine didn't and was starting to lose patience with her.

'Why do you always have to be so STUBBORN?' said Madeleine, getting frustrated and resisting an urge to kick the stubborn, difficult and moody horse who had been behaving strangely all day. Instead of losing her temper, Madeleine took a deep breath and dug into her bag, bringing out an apple, knowing that Sabine would give in by being bribed. She waved it in front of Sabine and calmly said to her-

'Sabine, I'll give you this delicious apple if you take us to the right path. I know the path looks scary, dangerous and unappealing to you, but I think it's the right one that will get us to Clarat quicker.'

Sabine then knew she was beaten. As much as she tried to be stubborn and resist bribery, a promise of a tasty, juicy apple, a crunchy, moist carrot or even a delicious handful or even better, a bucketful of golden oats was enough to persuade her to change her mind and she accepted the apple and after she finished eating it, turned right into the path.

'There now, that wasn't too difficult, was it?' Madeleine said, speaking to the horse like she was a fussy child, 'And it only needed an apple to persuade you.' Sabine, fed up with Madeleine's antics, just snorted and could only hope she wouldn't regret her decision.

* * *

><p>As they trotted along the path in the bleak, dark forest, Madeleine was beginning to have second thoughts, as she saw that the path was very unfamiliar to her and it didn't look like it would lead them to Clarat like she thought it would.<p>

Not helping the situation was the skeleton trees bending towards them, owls hooting in the distance, growling and howling echoing in the air, strange noises and the general darkness and coldness, which made Madeleine realise that this definitely wasn't the path to Clarat and that she had made the wrong decision.

'Oh help,' she said, with some nervousness in her voice, ' Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.'

Sabine whinnied as if to say, 'And it took you _this long _to figure it out? I told you this would happen, but you wouldn't listen to me and now we're in deep trouble!'

'Alright, Sabine, you were right and I was wrong. Are you happy now that your actions were not for nothing? You can say it, you know, I'm no good at making decisions, map reading and taking directions! There, I said it!' Madeleine shouted, her voice echoing around the forest. Sabine whinnied in a smug way.

'I'm glad you think that. Tell you what, you moaning Minnie, let's go back home. The silk isn't that important. The Beauforts will just have to be content with ordinary silk. It's just not worth it and besides they won't notice, let's just get the heck out of here!' Madeleine said, trembling and flicked the reins to get Sabine to turn around, which she was happy to do, seeing that Madeleine had finally come to her senses.

But as they trotted in the opposite direction, Madeleine had forgotten which way they had come, which made the situation even more dire and from a nearby tree, a bunch of black bats came flying towards them, screeching as they circled around them, making Sabine and Madeleine whinny and scream loudly, as she tried to flick them away.

'Come on Sabine! Yahhhh!' she shouted, as she managed to get the bats away from her and Sabine, flicking the reins furiously and the horse trotted as if her life depended on it (which it literally did), only to stop suddenly.

'Sabine, why have you stopped..' Madeleine said, confused only to see why Sabine had stopped trotting.

Loud growling could be heard, as three pairs of shining yellow eyes appeared, revealing themselves to be three blue and grey wolves, with hungry looks on their faces, their sharp teeth showing as they looked at the nervous, frightened horse and her rider, seeing tasty fresh meat that would soon be their dinner, having lured them in with their loud voices, as they circled around them, preparing to lunge and feast.

Bravely, Sabine attempted to fight the vicious creatures, with Madeleine still on her back, by head butting them, but even a strong horse like her was no match for three hungry wolves, who were not going to let their dinner get away, as they easily overpowered her, attacking and attempting to bite her.

One of them managed to bite her tail which startled her and caused her to throw off Madeleine who landed on the ground, right in the middle of the wolves, running furiously in the opposite direction.

'Sabine!' Madeleine shouted as she watched her disappear helplessly. She just hoped that Sabine would use her good homing instincts to make it back home safely and let Leon know of the danger she was in, but she had wished the horse hadn't left her in the midst of being hunted by vicious wolves!

But Sabine leaving was now the least of her worries, as the wolves, angry that part of their dinner had left, now turned their attention on _her, _as they crept closer and closer to her, seeing the tasty meal in their sights, as Madeleine felt their foul-smelling breath on her face.

Before she came into the forest, she had never really believed or paid attention to the talk and rumours about the forest and the dangers it had, but now that she was in a life or death situation, she understood why no-one went in here and the wolves were proving to be one of those reasons.

Facing the prospects of being eaten, Madeleine knew she had to get away, but without Sabine, it was almost impossible. However, as a wolf was dragging onto her cape, she decided to choose life, make like an egg and beat it, run away, it didn't matter where as long as she could get away and escape with her life.

Doing a tug-of-war battle with the wolf and her cape, she tugged and tugged at it, until she finally was able to tear it free from the wolf's mouth, ripping it in half. She then ran like blazes, as fast as her legs would allow it, heart beating like crazy and without any sense of direction, but determined to get away from the wolves.

However, the wolves, not prepared to go hungry for the night and let their dinner get away, like part of it did already, chased her furiously, which made her run ever faster, gasping for breath, but she didn't care, her life was at stake and she was not going to lose it to those horrible wolves.

Eventually, Madeleine for all her efforts, found herself in front of some iron gates, which seemed to lead into a castle. Desperate to get in and with the wolves not too far behind her, she fumbled with the gates, only to realise that they were locked.

Heart pounding, she kept fumbling and rattling the lock, even as the wolves, who had caught up with her, were nipping at her heels and grabbed at her cape again.

Struggling with both the lock and the weight of the wolves, she determinedly kept going until miraculously, the gates opened and she hurriedly entered, managing to shut the wolves out even though they kept nipping and growling at her, but the size of the bars on the gate meant that they were too big to squeeze through and they were forced to give up and left, which meant that they would be hungry for yet another night.

On the other side of the gate, Madeleine, having narrowly avoided being wolf tucker and lucky to have escaped with her life, fell to the ground exhausted, as her headband, which had come loose during the struggle, fell off her head and rolled down onto the ground as Madeleine panted heavily, having escaped certain death, as it started to rain and fell around her.

* * *

><p><em>Phew, what an intense chapter! Just like Maurice before her, poor Madeleine also gets lost and falls foul of wolves.<em>

_ Sorry if it's a bit short, but I think got the main points of it._

_Next chapter, Madeleine enters the castle and let's see what sort of welcome she will get._

_Reviews are most welcome and thanks to those who have left such kind reviews!_


	13. Chapter 13

Slowly rising to her feet, Madeleine felt the rain on her, soaking her cape, but she was relieved to have lost the wolves and still be intact.

'Phew, that was close. For a second, I thought I was going to be wolf tucker!' she chuckled to herself.

She couldn't believe that a nice, sunny day that started so well with a journey to get imported silk had ended in a cold, wet night and being abandoned in a dark forest, at the mercy of wolves, nearly being eaten by them.

Shivering from the cold, as she walked across a bridge carefully, for it was surrounded by a bottomless ground and then saw a stone castle unlike any she had seen before. It looked dark and gloomy like the forest and a flash of lightning and boom of thunder illuminated it briefly.

Madeleine was in awe of this strange place, which was similar to the castle that the royal family had resided in, but bore none of its beauty.

Surely, there couldn't be anyone living in this gloomy, uninviting place?

It looked neglected and hadn't seen the light of day and she hadn't seen any people come in or out to greet her. But she needed somewhere to stay and the castle was the only option and perhaps there would be someone willing to accommodate her.

'What a peculiar castle,' she said, 'I just hope whoever lives here will let me stay the night,'

Madeleine had now approached the door, as the rain got heavier and went to knock, only for it to suddenly open, like it was done by a pair of invisible hands. Could it have been the wind, a creaky door rusted by age or maybe..magic?

She quickly ruled that out, as she knew that there was no such thing and soaked to the skin by the rain, making her shiver and hold back a sneeze, she entered the castle, not wanting to catch a cold or pneumonia from the chill and called out to whoever may be inside

'Hello? Hello?' but got no answer.

'Sir? Madame? Anyone here? It's considered rude not to answer!'

She walked along the huge foyer, fascinated and scared by the darkness inside, as beastly looking figures from the ceiling and various locations around the foyer looked down at her.

As she continued walking, she passed a table with a candelabra and a pendulum clock but didn't notice that they had eyes moving back and forth at her and pretending to standing still.

Cogsworth, having noticed Madeleine enter, said to Lumiere

'There's a woman in here!'

'She must have got lost in the forest,' said Lumiere.

'Is anyone here? I'm sorry for intruding but I've lost my horse and was chased by wolves and I need a place to stay the night,' said Madeleine.

'Now, Lumiere, don't get any crazy ideas about letting her in. Yes, she seems harmless, but she still intruded and if you-know-who finds out she's here, there will be trouble! We will not make the same mistakes we made last time!' said Cogsworth.

'But Cogsworth, she's shivering and wet! All she wants is shelter and food and we are the ones to give it to her!' Lumiere said, 'And we should definitely let her in! The mistress doesn't need to know about this!'

'No, absolutely not!' said Cogsworth, knowing that the mistress would not take kindly to an uninvited guest and didn't want a repeat of what had happened with Maurice when he first came to the castle, which had dire consequences.

Lumiere just burned him, like he had always done when Cogsworth was getting on his nerves.

'Ahhhh!' he yelped.

'Of course, madame, you are most welcome here,' Lumiere said to Madeleine, who looked around confusedly to where the voice who had greeted her warmly came from.

'Who said that?' she said, picking up Lumiere and turned around, not realising that the voice was from him.

'Over here!' he said, determined to get her attention.

'Where?' said Madeleine as Lumiere tapped her on the head.

'Hello!' he said.

Startled, Madeleine dropped him on the floor, making a clinking noise as he fell.

'Owww,' he said as he got up, rubbing his head.

'What the... A talking candelabra! How peculiar and amazing!' said Madeleine, who was in awe of the moving object in front of her. She knew for a fact that ordinary candelabras did not talk in a charming voice or were able to move. Was it some sort of magic or were they wound up like a toy? She looked around for a key, but found nothing.

'Now you've done it, Lumiere!' said Cogsworth, 'You obviously haven't learnt anything from the last time! Those who do not remember the past..'

He was soon interrupted when Madeleine picked him up.

'How is this possible?' she said, which make Cogsworth grin at having a woman pay attention to him for once and gave Lumiere a smirk before resuming his authority.

'Madam, I insist that you put me down!' he said, as Madeleine tickled his feet- something that he clearly enjoyed despite himself. It was his weak spot.

'Oh, hee, hee, hee!' he giggled, enjoying it, while Lumiere hid a smirk and snicker at seeing his 'frienemy 'getting his feet tickled. Curious at how this ticklish little clock worked, Madeleine opened up his case and swung his pendulum.

'Madam, close that at once!' Cogsworth said, 'And kindly refrain from twisting me!' as Madeleine wound him up, his face twisting in pain as the handles went round and round.

'Oh, I'm sorry,' Madeleine said, 'It's not often I see a clock that talks..' only to be interrupted by a sneeze which landed on Cogsworth, who wiped the dust away. The cold had finally caught up with her, as she let out another sneeze, her cape not having been adequate enough for the rain.

'Excuse me, I think I may be coming down with something,' she said.

'I'm not surprised, since you are soaked to the bone, madame. Come warm yourself by the fire before you catch your death of cold,' said Lumiere.

'Oh, thank you so much,' said Madeleine, gratefully.

Paying no heed to Cogsworth's protests, Lumiere led Madeleine to the den, only to run into Remy and George, who had heard the commotion from the laundry room and approached them, Remy riding on George, like he was his carriage.

'Oh, no, here comes the idiot,' Lumiere groaned.

'Nice to see you too, Lumsie,' said Remy, sarcastically. Looking at Madeleine, he said

'Who's your new girlfriend? Oooh, Babs is not going to like this!'

'REMY! Where are your manners?' said George.

'You'll have to excuse my brother, madame,' he then said apologetically, 'He has a tendency to talk before he thinks and to behave brashly at times.'

'You don't know the half of it!' Lumiere said, 'This idiot is the bane of my existence! He's always picking on me and is VERY annoying! All too often, I'm on the receiving end of stupid bets he makes, his voice is too loud and he harasses poor, sweet Rebecca who he says he loves but she absolutely hates him. The list goes on,'

'Don't listen to Casanova and Georgie,' Remy said, laughing uncomfortably, ' They don't know what they're talking about. I'm very lovable and bring fun to the castle, now that Lumsie is getting on age wise!

And I know Becks loves me, she just won't admit it!'

'No, she doesn't! She despises you and it's not very hard to see why!' said Lumiere.

'Butt out, Lumsie, at least I'm not a womaniser like you! And I love Becks dearly!' snapped Remy.

'Anyway,' he continued, ' I happen to be very good at card games, even though it's been so long since I played! No hands, you see,'

'Only because you CHEAT and rig the games so that YOU always win!' said Lumiere.

'I DO NOT CHEAT! You're a big, fat, womanising liar, Lumiere!' Remy shouted.

'No, I'm not, you're the liar Remy and an annoying, loud- mouthed little creep!'

'No, I'm not!'

'Yes, you are and there's no denying it!' Lumiere taunted, trying to get the better of Remy.

'NOT, NOT, NOT!' Remy screamed.

'Gentlemen, please!' Madeleine said, which made Remy and Lumiere stop arguing.

'It's very nice to meet both of you, Remy and George,' she said, while the washboard and washtub bowed to her.

'A brash washboard and a talking washtub, how fascinating!' Madeleine said to herself, 'I wonder if there are any more objects here that can walk and talk as well.'

'Thank you, madame,' said George, 'Now, how about we wash that cloak for you? It must be really dirty!'

'Oh, that would be wonderful, thank you. But would it be possible to get it clean really quickly? I'll need it for tomorrow,' Madeleine said, giving them the cloak, which had been half-torn by the wolf that had gotten to it.

'Sorry if it is a bit ripped, I had to play tug-of-war with a wolf to get it back,' she said apologetically.

'No problem, madame, what's a little torn cloak amongst friends? We'll have it clean in a jiffy!' Remy said as he and George headed back to the laundry room, cloak in tow.

'I thought he hated doing the laundry,' Lumiere said to himself as he was puzzled by Remy's enthusiasm for washing Madeleine's cloak.

'As I was saying before the idiot interrupted me,' he said, turning his attention back to Madeleine, 'come into the den, madame and warm yourself by the fire,'

'Thank you, monsieur, you're very kind,' said Madeleine.

'No, no, NO! I won't allow it!' said Cogsworth, 'You know what the mistress will do if she finds her here!'

As he said it, a beastly-looking shadow was lurking near the staircase before fleeing, having seen what was going on. Lumiere just ignored him and led Madeleine into the den, with Cogsworth following them, protesting but to no avail.

* * *

><p>In the den, a roaring fire was blazing merrily and Amelie was there painting, using the brush attached to her and dipping it into the paint on her. Raymond was beside her, humming some tune as some paint bottles and brushes squirted and put paint on him, making different coloured strokes and splotches.<p>

Sophie was busy squirting pink paint from her on a blank easel, hoping that it would shake it off, which had become a favourite trick of hers and she wanted to show it to her parents.

'Sophie, dear, please be careful where you squirt your paint,' Amelie warned her, 'Keep it on the easel, as we don't want it going everywhere.'

'But Mama, I want to show you my trick,' Sophie said, 'Watch!'

Amelie looked as Sophie squirted the paint and the easel shook it off, sending drops everywhere, which made Sophie giggle and Amelie grimace as a blob managed to get on the wall.

'Isn't that neat, Mama?' she said.'

'Yes, dear, it's very nice,' Amelie said, while wincing at the blob, 'If you want paint on the wall, it's going to be a nightmare to clean up.'

'Oh, Amelie, it's just some harmless tomfoolery,' said Raymond, 'Sophie loves it and it can be easily cleaned up. That's part of our job, we inevitably make messes, isn't that right, darling?'

'Yes, Papa, it's so much fun! The easel is really funny!' Sophie said. The door then opened and Lumiere, followed by Cogsworth, entered with Madeleine.

'Here, madame, sit down and make yourself at home,' he said, guiding her to a comfy pink chair decorated with roses in front of the fire.

'Oh, thank you,' Madeleine said, sinking into the chair, feeling the fire's warmth on her.

'Oh no, not the mistress's chair!' moaned Cogsworth. This was not going according to plan and he knew that it was going to lead into trouble, he just knew it.

'Oooh, look Amelie and Sophie, we have a guest!' said Raymond, excited. He waddled over to the chair, eager to greet her only to have a typical moment by tripping and falling down flat on his face.

'I'm okay,' he said, as Amelie helped him up.

'Hi, madame!' said Sophie, also eager to greet the guest, ' My name is Sophie and I like painting! Do you like painting?' Madeleine chuckled at that.

'Well, aren't you a cute little paint bottle?' she said, ' I'm not so much a painter, I'm more of a dressmaker.'

'You're a dressmaker? That's neat!' Sophie said, fascinated, ' That's what Katrine does here as well, she makes the most prettiest dresses...'

'Alright, Sophie,' Amelie said, quietening her down.

'Welcome, madame!' she then said to Madeleine warmly, ' Please do make yourself comfy! Don't mind Lila, just scoot her away.'

'Lila?' said Madeleine, as the cushion crawled into her lap, purring and nuzzling against her.

'Oh, hello kitty,' she said, 'What a lovely, um, cushion-cat,' as she stroked Lila, as she continued purring, wanting attention after not receiving any for ten years.

'This little party ends now!' Cogsworth said, determined to take control of the situation, only to fall down with bolts coming out of him. He then sneezed, as he could see that Lila was in the room.

'And who let Lila in here? You know I'm allergic to cats!' he said, letting out another sneeze.

'No one did, Cogsworth, she came in herself and she's perfectly fine where she is. We're just showing good manners to this nice lady, that's not a crime isn't it?' said Amelie.

'In Cogsworth's case, it is,' said Raymond.

'Amelie's right,' said Lumiere, 'We, as courteous servants must be hospitable to guests, just like we did with Monsieur Maurice, remember?'

'And do you remember what happened then?' said Cogsworth.

'Yes, yes, but that was then and this is now and it is still relevant to this day,' Lumiere said.

Cogsworth couldn't believe it. Just like the last time, Lumiere ignored his orders and let an uninvited guest in, making so much noise and he, along with everyone else wasn't listening to him. It was a recipe for disaster.

'This isn't happening, this isn't happening, history can't repeat itself!' he said to himself. At least he took comfort in the fact that the mistress hadn't heard them yet and the woman, who for some reason, was becoming attracted to, hadn't been offered tea and food.

Madeleine was beginning to enjoy herself, as the fire warmed her up while she stroked Lila. If only she had a footstool to put up her feet, a nice cup of tea and some food, then she would be quite content, not having eaten since her lunch at the valley.

As if on cue, Sultan entered, yipping happily down the steps and found where Madeleine was, expecting a pat from her.

'Oh, hello there, boy,' she said, petting Sultan, who panted and yipped excitedly. Lila hissed at him, as he positioned himself at the bottom of the chair, as Madeleine put her feet up.

A coatrack came and put a warm blanket around her to protect her from the chill, making her feel dry and comfy.

'What service!' she said as the coatrack bowed, removing its hat and left. She couldn't help but be impressed by how they were able to give her shelter, a comfy chair, warm blanket and something to put her feet up.

Remy and George then entered, carrying her cloak, which was now washed and pressed, but was still torn.

'Your cloak, madame, washed and pressed,' said George, 'although I'm afraid we weren't able to repair it. We would've got Katrine to do it, but we couldn't find her.'

'Oh, don't give it a second thought, I can fix it myself, but thank you so much for washing it so quickly.' Madeleine said.

'We don't muck around when it comes to laundry!' said Remy.

'I'd like to believe that, Remy, I really do,' George said.

'Alright, this nonsense has gone far enough!' snapped Cogsworth.

'Oh, Cogsie, stop being such a spoilsport!' said Remy.

'Don't call me Cogsie, Remy! You must address me by my full name! I'm in charge here!' said Cogsworth, only to get run over by the tea trolley with Mrs Potts, Chip and Rebecca on board.

'How would you like a nice spot of tea, madam? It'll warm you up in no time,' Mrs Potts said, as she poured the tea.

'And would you like a nice, hearty meal of chicken, roast potatoes, peas and carrots? You must be starving!' Rebecca said, holding up the plate of hot, steaming food which was impressive considering she didn't have any fingers and her arms were floppy.

Madeleine picked up the cup of tea and sipped it, feeling the sweet, smooth taste go down nicely, unlike the malty tea she had back in the village and let out a sigh of pleasure.

'Ah, a nice refreshing cup of tea and a hot meal, just what I needed, thank you,' she said, as the cup moved which was Chip.

'Her lips tickle, Mama!' he laughed, as Madeleine took another sip.

'Oh, hello there!' she chuckled, finding it amusing that a little teacup had the voice of a teenage boy.

* * *

><p>For Cogsworth, this was the last straw. He had to do something to remedy the situation before it got completely out of hand, which it was fast becoming.<p>

'We're playing with fire here,' he said, 'It's only a matter of time before we get caught,'

'Cogsie, will you stop moaning!' said Remy, getting fed up with Cogsworth's negative attitude and fussiness, as was everyone else, 'This is what we do to guests! We feed them, shelter them and offer them tea! And we're NOT going to get caught, so stop being paranoid!'

Realising that he was fighting a losing battle, Cogsworth said,

'Alright, Remy, I won't say another word. But if the mistress finds out we have let an uninvited guest in, DON'T say I didn't warn you!'

'Anyone going to let me in?' Katrine called from the doorway, 'It's only fair that I should join in this little shindig you're having.' She entered, but due to her size and the doorway being narrow, she got stuck.

'Little help?' she said. Rebecca jumped off the trolley and with the help of Lumiere, Remy and Amelie, pushed her out.

'Thanks,' Katrine said sheepishly.

'Thank you all so much for your wonderful hospitality,' said Madeleine, grateful for their kindness, ' You've made me feel very welcome after the day I've had with getting lost in the forest, being thrown off my horse and being chased by wolves.'

'It's the least we could do,' said Rebecca.

'You're the first guest we've had in ten years. This is a great time to celebrate!' said Lumiere.

'It would've been cruel to have left you in the forest to catch a cold and die and we wouldn't want that on our conscience!' Amelie said.

'But what about your mistress?' said Madeleine, having seen how worried Cogsworth had been about her.

'Cogsworth, if that is his name,' she said, as the servants nodded.

'Or Cogsie, as I like to call him,' said Remy.

'..seemed really worried about what would happen if she found me here. He even referred to be as an 'uninvited guest,' Madeleine said.

'Oh, don't listen to Cogsie!' said Remy, 'He just gets wound up really easily about silly things! And don't worry, what the mistress doesn't know won't hurt her!'

'I wouldn't say that,' said a low, silky, sinister voice outside the doorway. Suddenly the happy atmosphere turned dark, as a huge gust of wind blew in, putting out the fire. A low growling noise could be heard which made Rebecca and Raymond squeak in fear and the servants shake nervously.

'Uh oh, this can't be good,' said Chip.


	14. Chapter 14

Hearing the growling noise approaching, the servants had no choice but to hide as a means to avoid being on the receiving end of their mistress's ferocious anger.

Lila jumped off Madeleine's lap and crawled away with Sultan not too far behind. Chip hid behind his mother who was trembling in fear. Cogsworth was tempted to say 'I told you so,' at this moment but fearing the worst, decided to hide like a coward under a rug.

Madeleine stayed in the chair but was unaware and confused at why the objects, who had been so kind to her, offered her food and a place to stay the night and became her friends in a few short minutes, were now hiding in fear, like what they had done was wrong.

'What's going on? Why are you hiding?' she said but the servants didn't answer her, as they continued looking for hiding places.

Sophie, who was normally so brave, hid behind her parents, scared about what was happening, while Raymond was shaking violently, scared out of his wits and had gone deathly white, his teeth chattering loudly.

Katrine was trying to find a place where she wouldn't be seen so easily, but couldn't since she was tall and had to put her back against the wall (literally), standing still and hoping that she wouldn't be found.

Rebecca, having rejected Remy's offer to hide with him, hid under a chair and Remy realised that he was fast running out of options.

'Oh, no! George, quick, hide me!' he said.

'Hide yourself!' was George's reply. Not to be deterred, Remy jumped onto his brother. George threw him off but relented and the two hid behind the chair where Rebecca was, to her dismay and Remy's joy.

'Well, what do you know, Becks? You chose to hide with me after all!' he said, excited.

'This is _my _hiding place, Remy and you just happened to barge in! So, just shut up and don't get close to me!' hissed Rebecca, batting Remy away.

'Careful Becks, you don't want to rip yourself on me!' he said.

'Shut up,' Rebecca said.

'Mama, Papa, I'm scared. What's going to happen? What will the mistress do?' said Sophie, trembling.

'It's alright, darling, just keep calm, it'll be all over soon,' said Amelie, reassuring her daughter, for she knew it wouldn't be too long before Sophie wouldn't be immune from the mistress's anger.

* * *

><p>The growling got louder, as the Beast entered, walking on all fours, her mane sticking up and with a ferocious look on her face, with her teeth bare and gnashing.<p>

Dressed in a white shirt, black silk trousers and a wine-red cape, with a pink bow in her mane, she growled and sniffed as she saw the strange woman in her chair.

Seeing this monster, who was partially hidden in the dark and circling around, like the wolves did in the forest, Madeleine realised why the objects were hiding and what had made the little clock so wound up before and became scared but stayed firmly in the chair.

Could this be the beast that had made everyone in the village afraid to go in the forest? It seemed to be and the rumours had proved to be true after all.

Madeleine couldn't see if the beast was male or female because if she had, she wouldn't have made a costly mistake later on.

The Beast sniffed around while crawling, looking for her disobedient servants who had let an intruder in and had given her food and shelter from what she had heard and saw from the staircase and were hiding like cowards from her.

It was not acceptable in her books and she was going to let them know it and deal with the uninvited guest.

'Looks like a nice little party you have going on here,' she said, her tone strangely calm but still animal-like, 'but it's such a pity that you had to make so much noise to disturb me and you know better not to do that!'

No one was answering which irked her and having seen Madeleine in her chair, she then said,

'I see a stranger in here,'

'No duh,' Remy whispered behind the chair he was hiding in.

'Who let her in? Who?' the Beast said, 'COME OUT AND EXPLAIN YOURSELVES NOW!'

Hearing their mistress call them, the servants were forced to obey and come out of their hiding places, terrified and faced her even though she was angry beyond belief.

'I won't ask you again,' she said, 'WHO LET THIS WOMAN IN THE DEN AND WHY IS SHE SITTING IN MY CHAIR? DID YOU GIVE HER FOOD AND SHELTER BEHIND MY BACK? DID YOU?'

Too terrified to speak, the servants said nothing, which only make the Beast angrier.

'ANSWER ME WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!' she roared. Despite this, there was still no reply. Eventually Remy broke the silence.

'Lumiere did,' he said, trying to sound muffled but his voice wouldn't allow it and it was loud enough for the Beast to hear.

Lumiere gasped at hearing that Remy had ratted him out.

'Squealer!' he hissed to Remy.

With that confirmed, the Beast turned to Lumiere who was sweating nervously, as wax dripped down him.

'Is this true, Uncle Lumiere?' she hissed.

'Mistress, before you jump to any conclusions, allow me to explain,' he said.

'I'm listening,' she replied.

'The lady got lost in the forest and was cold and wet and she needed a place to stay and..'

The Beast gave out a terrible roar in response, putting out Lumiere's candles.

'Mistress!' came the voice of Babette who came out of nowhere, 'How could you do this? It is very rude to roar in people's faces!'

She too had her face sprayed by the Beast's roar, getting louder each time, as Lumiere comforted her.

'And Mrs Potts and I gave her food and tea, we thought it was the right thing to..' said Rebecca, only for the Beast to roar again in her face and she felt her foul-smelling breath.

'Uggh, her breath smells of animal carcasses!' she exclaimed in disgust.

'Don't even mention she needs mouthwash!' said Katrine.

'Mistress, I would just like to say, it was all Lumiere's fault, just like it was the last time. He didn't learn anything from that and he didn't listen to me, no, no and the others helped as well.' Cogsworth said.

'SILENCE!' the Beast roared, which make the poor clock whimper.

With the servants dealt with, she turned to the main focus of her anger and irritation- the poor, defenceless woman in her chair who had done nothing wrong other than entering her castle.

'Oh boy, her goose is cooked now,' said Katrine.

'Madame, if you ever want to take my advice, take it now, run away.' Remy said to Madeleine.

'Remy, be quiet!' snapped Rebecca, 'Haven't you said enough already?'

Now Madeleine found herself face to face with the terrifying creature who looked like some sort of wolf with bits of lion and buffalo and goodness knows what, her fangs bared and growling ferociously and she felt her hot, smelly breath on her face, like the wolves did to her.

'Who are you? Why did you come here?' the Beast said, circling around the chair with Madeleine squirming in fear.

'I-I got lost in the forest and I needed a place to stay..' she managed to stammer.

'YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!' the Beast roared.

Then Madeleine, having not already been aware of the Beast's gender, mistakenly said,

'Please sir, I can explain,'

'Sir?' the Beast said, clearly offended, ' How dare you address me as 'sir'? That is pure insolence! Are you blind to see that I am indeed female? And I don't tolerate intruders in my castle, especially those who can't get my gender right!'

Madeleine took another look and saw clearly that under the loose shirt and trousers that she did indeed have feminine features and curves and the pink bow in her mane put any doubts about her gender to rest, that she was indeed female.

'I'm sorry, I didn't know!' she said, but the Beast was having none of it.

'LIAR!' she shouted. Madeleine was still looking at this monstrous creature and wondered how on earth she was ever created, as a pair of piercing sapphire blue eyes, very much like a human's started menacingly at her.

'STOP STARING AT ME!' the Beast roared, 'IS THAT WHY YOU ARE HERE? DID YOU COME HERE TO STARE AT THE BEAST? THE HIDEOUS, MONSTROUS BEAST IN FRONT OF YOU? DID YOU?' as a tear rolled down her cheek.

'No, I didn't, I swear! Please madame, I didn't mean you any harm,' Madeleine said, trembling, ' I just wanted a place to stay! Is that too much to ask?'

'You trespassed into my castle and now you must pay for it!' the Beast said, as two inhuman arms with sharp claws reached out and grabbed Madeleine, lifting her off the chair and she struggled like her life depended on it.

'No, please! Please let me go!' she said desperately, but it fell on deaf ears as the servants could only watch helplessly as the poor woman was dragged off to what they could only assume was the dungeon which hadn't been used for years.

* * *

><p>The servants were in shock at seeing that their kindness and hospitality and their duty had to end with their guest, the first one that they had in ten years being thrown into the dungeon for her pains and couldn't help but feel responsible for her misfortune.<p>

'What a sad sight,' said Mrs Potts, 'That poor woman, all she wanted was shelter and food and we were happy to give it to her and it had to end like it did.'

'She didn't even get the chance to eat the hearty meal I made for her which wasn't easy since I lack fingers and my arms are all floppy and I had to call on Nathalie to help me, even though I didn't want to and now it'll go to waste!' said Rebecca, as she hated it when she made a meal only for the person to either not eat it, finish it or turn it down.

'It was a lovely meal dear, I'm sure it would've been delicious,' Mrs Potts said.

'Thank you, Mrs Potts, I did try,' said Rebecca.

'It was getting to be such a great party,' Lumiere said, 'Ten years we've not had a single guest and when one does come..'

'The mistress just HAD to ruin it! Didn't she, Lumsie?' Remy interrupted him.

Finally fed up with the loudmouth washboard and stinging from his betrayal, Lumiere showed that Cogsworth was not the only one who received burns from him and since Remy was made of wood as well, burned him.

'OWWW!' shouted Remy in pain, 'What was that for, Lumsie?'

' For being a total and complete idiot, blabbermouth and SQUEALER!' said Lumiere, 'You ratted me out to the mistress!'

'Well, how could I not? She terrified me!' said Remy defensively, 'What was I supposed to do, keep quiet?'

'YES!' everyone shouted, like the answer was obvious.

'If you had only done that, the woman wouldn't be going to the dungeon to probably die!' George said, 'but oh no, you just couldn't help yourself and had to open that big mouth of yours and cause trouble yet again!'

'Oh, come on, when have I gotten us into trouble by talking too much?' said Remy.

'Oh, I don't know, LOTS OF TIMES?' said Babette, ' Like when you got mouthy with the Red Enchantress by taunting and trying to fight her or your comment 'what the mistress doesn't know won't hurt her!' and you ratting out poor Lumiere! You just don't know when to keep your mouth shut!'

'And that dribble that comes out of it, it drives us mad! Dribble, dribble, yap, yap, yap! Do us all a favour and JUST STOP TALKING!' screamed George, which stunned Remy.

'But to be fair, Lumiere was the one who actually let her in. Remy didn't really do anything other than being his loudmouth self,' said Katrine.

'Are you defending him, mademoiselle Katrine?' said Lumiere.

'No, I'm just bringing up a good point, that's all.' Katrine replied.

'That is true, Katrine,' said Amelie.

'Yeah, Kitty Kat's right, it was your fault, Lumsie!' said Remy, 'Cogsie said so! And Georgie, how did you know the woman was going to the dungeon?'

'It was a lucky guess!' snapped George.

'It's so sad what has happened to the mistress,' said Mrs Potts, sadly, ' She used to be such a happy, kind, polite and beautiful little girl, but this awful curse has made her just like her father!'

Everyone looked at her confused, for there were those who hadn't known Adam when he was selfish and unkind and the first Beast.

'When he was the first Beast of course,' Mrs Potts then said.

'It's alright, Mama, don't be so down,' said Chip, comforting his mother, ' We all did our best for her but she just kept shutting us out and closed off her heart to us. The more time she has spent as a beast, the more feral she has become.'

'She's not that mean, really,' Sophie piped up, 'All she needs is that nice boy to come and love her. I wonder when that will be.'

'Who knows,' said Amelie, 'Maybe he won't come at all,'

'And the saddest thing about all this is that her parents and grandfather are nothing more than motionless stone statues that can't be there to reassure her and give her the love they had for her.' Lumiere said.

All nodded and agreed sadly at Lumiere's comment. What had made the curse even crueller was that Belle and Adam, who had always been there for their daughter and loved her with all their hearts, were not there to help her adjust to her form and keep on loving her (which they knew they still would, despite her beastly form) and that made her the way she was.

* * *

><p>Cogsworth, sad about what had happened and feeling guilty for not having saved Madeleine from her terrible fate, snuck away and walked into the main foyer. He found the small room where the stone statues of Belle, Adam and Maurice were standing, still frozen in an ageless state in the same pose, covered with dust and cobwebs and looked at them sadly.<p>

'Oh, Master and Mistress, forgive me,' he said, 'If only you could see what your sweet darling, your beloved daughter has become.'

To Adam, he said,

'She's become the monstrous beast you once were, Master, everything that you didn't want her to be. Only just now, she has locked a helpless woman in the dungeon who only wanted a place to stay from the cold,' as he shed a tear.

'Just like you did with Monsieur Maurice,' while looking at Maurice.

'But I know you and the mistress still love her, I know you do.' he said and with a heavy heart, walked back to the den.

* * *

><p><em>What a sad ending. But don't worry, the next chapter will be funny!<em>

_To clear up some things, in case you were confused:_

_Rose, having been a beast for so long, didn't want anyone to use her name, so for a few chapters more, she will be known as 'The Beast', 'Mistress' (since her poor parents are trapped in stone, she is in charge of the castle) and 'she'._

_Her personality has changed, so she's mean, ill-tempered and reclusive and has become more beastly since the curse took place, henceforth why she acted the way she did, basically all the things her father was before her._

_Reviews are welcome, as next chapter, Leon will receive an indecent proposal! How will he react? Stay tuned!_


	15. Chapter 15

While Madeleine was locked up in a cold, damp, dungeon and was at the mercy of the terrible beast that had put her there; Leon, who was unaware of her ordeal, was busy with his studies, conducting experiments for science as was shown in his text-book, but was careful not to spill anything or to cause any explosions or make any unstable chemicals.

He was also unaware that at this particular time, Amandine was putting her plan into action, as the villagers were gathering around the village green, anticipating the moment when Leon would propose to her. She just had to persuade him.

* * *

><p>Just outside the cottage, Amandine and Martine were behind some bushes, ready to carry out the plan. For this special occasion, Amandine had taken great pride in her appearance by applying lots of makeup and styled up her hair in a beehive hairdo with some curly bits hanging down the bottom.<p>

She also wore a dark red, off the shoulder dress, which was extremely low cut, like her normal violet dress, with a ruby brooch and two pearls on the bodice, little red lace gloves, ruby and gold earrings and her genuine pearl necklace.

'Well, Martine, today is Leon's lucky day,' she said, 'If I play my cards right, a grand wedding fit for a queen like me will soon take place.'

'Yeah, Leon's going to get the surprise of his life!' Martine replied, 'I mean he has no idea about it! But doesn't he have to propose to you? That way, once that happens, then you'll get married, won't you?'

'You and your knack for stating the obvious, Martine!' said Amandine, while shoving a pile of leaves and a tree branch in her face, 'Of course he'll propose to me and I want this to be absolutely perfect, why ruin it by rushing? After all, you can't rush perfection!'

'Too true,' said Martine, 'So, what's the plan?'

Amandine sighed heavily at her stupidity and persistent questioning.

'Why do you always have to be deliberately irritating, Martine?' she said, hitting Martine on the head, to which she winced at, 'Sometimes, you really get on my nerves!'

'Then again, good help is so hard to find these days,' she then said to herself.

'I'm sorry, Amandine, I didn't mean it, just don't hit me again!' squeaked Martine.

'That's better, but one more goof-up and it won't be just your head that I hit,' Amandine said, 'Now since you asked and that you have mush for brains, I'll tell you the plan. Pay attention because I'm not going to repeat myself.'

Martine nodded in response.

'First, I knock on Leon's door, catching him totally unaware, but I can only hope that he'll be happy to see me.

Second, I'll get him to propose to me and to get me an elegant engagement ring with the biggest diamond ever..'

'Wait a minute, Amandine, won't that ring be too heavy for your finger? You'll be weighed down by it!' said Martine.

'Don't interrupt me!' shouted Amandine, 'Oh, well done you doofus, you made me forget what I was going to say next. Help me out here!'

'You were going to make Leon get a huge engagement ring,' said Martine.

'Oh, yes, that's right, he'll get that from the jeweller. Only the biggest and finest for me!

Finally, if it all goes to plan, we go out into the green and in front of the whole village, he proposes to me and before you know it, I'll be Madame Duplonk, I mean Dupont! Dupont! No one will be calling me that, that's for sure!

Have you got all that, Martine? Have you processed that into that thick skull of yours?' said Amandine.

'Clear as crystal! What a great plan, Amandine!' said Martine, 'But are you sure that you want to do this in front of everyone?'

'What do you mean by that, Martine?' Amandine said.

'He may reject you and everyone will see you be humiliated and laugh at you and I don't want that happening..'

Amandine glared at her.

'Not that it'll happen of course,' Martine hastily said.

'Of course not, nobody rejects Amandine LeGume, if they know what's good for them,' Amandine said, eager to put her plan into action.

'Come on, we're wasting valuable time and my beautiful new red dress blabbering on and we can't keep everyone waiting.

And once we're engaged, Martine, you'll be my maid of honour. You may be a froggy-faced, pig-nosed doofus, but you're my lackey and the only person I can tolerate.'

Hearing that, Martine gave a squeal of glee. She had always wanted to be a bride or at least a bridesmaid and it was like Amandine had handed her dreams on a silver platter.

'Really, you want me as your maid of honour?' she said.

'Yes, really Martine,' said Amandine.

'Oh, Amandine, I'll be honoured! Thank you, thank you; you're the best friend ever!' Martine squealed, hugging Amandine. She pushed her off in disgust, as she hated it when Martine hugged her and smoothed down her dress.

'I'm going to get you the best wedding gift ever!' she then said.

'Hey, hey, you doofus, don't go all mushy on me,' said Amandine, 'Wait before you start thinking ahead and you wrinkled my new dress with your stupid hugging! You know I don't like being hugged! Well, if Leon were to do it, I won't mind, but not from you!'

'Sorry, Amandine,' said Martine.

'That's better,' Amandine said, 'now, how do I look?' swaying her hips and twirling around, showing off her new dress.

'Beautiful and goddess-like as always!' Martine promptly replied, 'Leon won't know what hit him when he sees you!'

'Good, that's what I like to hear,' said Amandine and the two walked out of the bushes towards the waiting villagers.

* * *

><p>As the villagers waited, Amandine, as she walked, unsurprisingly drew attention to herself due to her dress and her chest barely being contained by the bodice, but she was enjoying it, while the girls glared enviously at her.<p>

She cleared her throat, which made everyone turn around and face her.

'Now, I'd like to thank you all for coming to witness the crowning moment of my life,' she said, chuckling as the villagers laughed.

'All I have to do now is to get Leon to come here to propose to me and soon, a wedding worthy of the most beautiful and beloved woman in the village will take place and you're all invited!'

The villagers cheered, while the Muscular Men and the boys wept floods of tears, in spite of being tough and muscular, at hearing that their goddess was soon to be married except for Jean-Luc who couldn't care less but feigned a few tears so as not to arouse suspicion.

Everyone then started to pester Amandine with questions about the wedding.

'You mean he hasn't proposed to you yet?' said Bridgette.

'What will your dress be like?' Violette said.

'Can we be your bridesmaids?' said Annette.

'Why are you marrying Duplonk?' the boys all said at once, 'Why not anyone of us?'

'I'm this year's winner of the Gaston Games!' said Beauden.

'I was the runner-up!' said Stephane.

'I'm the leader of the Muscular Men and I totally idolise your uncle!' Henri said.

'I'm more handsome than that swine kisser! We can be the most beautiful couple in the village!' Pierre said.

'I'm burly and brawny,' said Francois.

'I don't really care,' said Jean-Luc, clearly uninterested in the whole thing, only to be hit in the arm by Henri and said, sarcastically,

'Oh why marry Leon, when you can have me? I am very good at hunting and fishing and came third in the Games.'

'You sure are, Jean-Luc,' said Martine, dreamily.

'Are you going to propose to him?' said a woman.

'Will there be any free beer?' said the blacksmith.

Fed up with their questions, Amandine said,

'Stop asking such silly questions! But, I'll say this.

Beauden, I'll never marry you! You cheated in Beer Drinking and you are not worthy of your title and my kiss!'

Beauden let out floods of tears.

'That was never proved!' he howled.

'The same goes for you so-called Muscular Men!' she then said, while glaring at them.

'You're all stupid, boorish idiots who can't even hunt and fish properly, are terrible sportsmen and are making a mockery of my uncle's memory!'

'But Jean-Luc's not a stupid, boorish idiot!' said Martine, 'He's really nice and friendly and he's excellent at hunting, fishing, chopping wood and sports not to mention good looking!'

She smiled and sighed dreamily at Jean-Luc, who returned her affection only to cover it up a few seconds later.

'Shut up, Martine!' Amandine said, 'I told you already that you are not to talk to Jean-Luc!'

'Sorry, Amandine,' said Martine.

'You never knew your uncle Amandine, so why should you care if we dress like him and look up to him?' said Jean-Luc.

'Although I don't, Gaston was a terrible role model for men and boys and a narcissist bully,' he then said to himself.

'Whatever, Jean-Luc, I don't want to hear it!' said Amandine, before turning to the Bimbette cousins.

'Also, Bimbette cousins, you will NOT be my bridesmaids! I just want Martine only to be my maid of honour! It's because I can't stand you three, as you are very stupid and annoying and I don't want that standing next to me at the altar!' she said, causing the girls to cry.

'And you, fashion impaired,' she said to the woman, who looked at her quizzically, 'I'm not proposing to him, it's the other way around, you know that.

Now for the coup de grace, wish me luck!'

'Luck!' the villagers said, as Amandine made her way towards Leon's cottage, unaware that Martine had arranged for the Etienne triplets to play at the proposal as an early wedding gift. They played 'Here Comes The Bride' totally off-key and rushed.

Hearing the awful sounds behind her, Amandine turned around and was annoyed as she didn't want any music and that Martine had got a band behind her back.

'Martine!' she yelled, 'I specifically told you NO MUSIC!'

'Aw, I thought it would be romantic, a special gift for a special friend who is soon to be married to her love,' said Martine, 'You deserve the best, Amandine and I wish you all the happiness that is to come your way,' as she shed a tear.

'Awww, how sweet,' the villagers said.

Amandine then responded by pretending to be moved by Martine's generosity.

'Oh, how my heart bleeds, Martine. How lucky I am to have a friend like you. This is a special gift except you got those awful, talentless bozos to play! Anything they play is off-key and spoils the whole thing!'

'Hey, those are our husbands you're talking about!' Claudia, Laura and Paula said.

'What's wrong with our music?' said Thomas, the triplet in blue.

'We play good music!' said Aurelien, the one in orange.

'For a small fee of course,' said Kyle, who wore green.

'It was the best I could get under short notice,' said Martine, 'and I was planning to have them play at the wedding,'

'Well, it wasn't enough!' shouted Amandine, 'I don't want them as the band for the wedding! You screwed up again, Martine and this is what I think of your gift!'

She picked up a drum and put it over Martine in anger before composing herself and finally headed off to the cottage.

'Well that wasn't very nice,' said Thomas, as the villagers looked pitifully at Martine.

'Are you alright, Martine?' said Jean-Luc, going over to her and putting her arm around her.

'Yeah, I'm okay,' Martine said, clearly hurt at her gift being rejected and looking ridiculous with a drum over her, 'So this is the thanks I get. I give her a band for her wedding out of the goodness of my heart and she rejects it like garbage and puts a drum over me!'

'Hey, it's okay,' Jean-Luc said soothingly, 'It was the thought that counts after all.'

'You're right, Jean-Luc, it is the thought that counts,' said Martine, brightening up again, 'and I'll keep serving and pleasing Amandine even if she doesn't appreciate it!'

Jean-Luc just sighed.

* * *

><p>In the cottage, Leon had finished his studies for the day and was now sitting on the sofa reading his book, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door.<p>

'I wonder who that could be, as if I already didn't know,' he said, annoyed at having his valuable reading time interrupted.

Nonetheless, he got up to answer it and looked through the binoculars and saw a very familiar blue cat-shaped eye, the lashes batting against the lens and the unwelcome sight of Amandine at the door.

'Uggh,' he groaned, not wanting to deal with her, but opened the door and Amandine entered, posing seductively in her very low cut dress, which made Leon uncomfortable.

'Miss me?' she said.

'Amandine, what a surprise,' Leon said, feigning surprise at her arrival, 'I wasn't expecting you,'

'Isn't it though?' Amandine said, proud of herself, 'It's my speciality if I say so myself,' as she leaned towards Leon, giving him a view of her chest, which he tried not to look at.

'You know Leon, there are a lot of boys who would sell their mothers to be in your shoes, for today is the day where all your dreams become reality!' Amandine said while looking at herself in the mirror, adjusting her hair, plumping up her chest and puckering up her lips, even though to Leon, she looked exactly the same, like her appearance would change every five seconds.

'How do you know about my dreams, Amandine?' he said.

'Oh, don't think I didn't hear little birdies chirping about your hopes, dreams, your, um, fondness for animals..' Amandine began, before coughing 'Swinekisser' under her breath.

'Gossips and drunken louts come together in the tavern and chat about a certain handsome but odd boy who isn't like the others, who reads a lot, educates himself, likes to kiss pigs, hangs out with his horse, is too devoted to his mother and doesn't do regular manly activities…'

'Amandine, where is this all going?' said Leon, even though he knew EXACTLY what it was and he didn't like it.

'Wake up and smell the roses, Leon!' she said, 'Of course, it's no secret that everyone sees you that way. But I can change all that. I can help you improve your image, social status and reputation and get people to stop calling you 'odd', ' Duplonk,' and 'Swinekisser,' and many other names.'

'How can you do that?' said Leon.

'Picture this,' said Amandine, as she lay on the sofa seductively, kicking off her shoes and pushing Leon's book off.

'A beautiful house in the woods, me sitting around looking beautiful wearing fabulous dresses that your mother made for me, my brave, strong husband, a three time Gaston Games winner coming home with his latest kill for dinner, massaging my feet,' as she wiggled said feet, 'while the little ones play with their dolls and the cats on the floor. We will have six or seven of them,'

'Cats?' Leon said, hoping it was the latter. Amandine let out a false laugh at that.

'Oh, you do amuse me, dear Leon!' she said, 'No, lovely little girls just like me!'

Leon grimaced at that. The idea of being married to Amandine, being forced to compete in the Gaston Games, to hunt for food and massaging her feet was bad enough, but being a father to six or seven daughters was even worse!

'You want six or seven daughters?' he said.

'Of course,' said Amandine.

'But it'll ruin your figure if you have that many children, especially since you're so insistent on keeping it,' Leon said, 'and haven't you even considered the possibility of having sons as well?'

'Well, I'll only have one every four years, which will be plenty of time to get my figure back in between.' Amandine said.

'Imagine that,' said Leon.

'That will be me and you, Leon, our life together, wouldn't you love that?' Amandine said, her voice sickly sweet which made Leon retch in his mouth a little.

'Are you alright?'

'Yeah, I just threw up in my mouth a little,' said Leon, quickly swallowing it down again.

'So what do you say to that?' said Amandine, 'I'll give you a little hint, five words make up this sentence. They are 'Amandine,' and 'will' and 'you' and 'marry' and 'me?' Put them together and that is a proposal that I will gladly accept!

All you need to do now is to go to the jeweller, get me a ring with the biggest diamond and take me as your fiancée in front of the village and we'll be married soon after that!'

Leon couldn't believe it. She was actually persuading him to propose to her! To be her husband, to waste away being nothing more than her slave and being a father to six or seven spoiled, bratty children? It wasn't what he wanted at all!

'Amandine, I really don't know what to say, it's all so..sudden,' he said.

'Then don't say anything, except 'Amandine, will you marry me?' That's all I want to hear from you!'

'Well, as..romantic as your intentions are, I'm afraid I'm not interested, besides all the boys would love to marry you.'

'I don't want to marry any of those losers! I want you and you only, Leon! I'm offering you a wonderful life with me and a chance to improve your reputation and you're rejecting me? HOW DARE YOU?!' Amandine screeched and whined.

'Look, Amandine,' Leon said, determined not to lose his temper, 'I already told you that I only want to marry for love, not because the villagers say I should or that it might improve my social status, or being nothing more than your handsome husband or to have children with you and catering to your every whim and you know what happened with me and Violette.'

'Don't give me any of that pathetic dribble, Leon!' said Amandine, getting angry.

'Let me tell you a few things,

One, true love is only in stupid fairy tales that you waste your time reading.

Two, Violette is a brainless, empty-headed bimbo who is easily influenced by her stupid cousins who made her do that stupid joke on you, which you, a very intelligent boy, was stupid enough to fall for.

Three, I don't want any boy who mocks and dishonours my uncle's memory by dressing and acting like him or cheats at the Games in his name.

Now, we are going to the village green where everyone is waiting for us, you will get that diamond ring and you will propose to me, _capiece?_'

'Amandine, I'm really sorry, but you're just not the girl for me. I don't deserve you and I can't afford to get you a diamond ring that big,' said Leon, realising that he was leaning against the door and thought of an idea.

'But I can give you a kiss,' he said. Amandine went to kiss Leon only to have him open the door and for her to be sent flying face first into a pond of mud near the green and letting out a shriek in horror.

'So long, Amandine, it was fun while it lasted,' Leon said, as he put her shoes out onto the step and closed the door behind him.

'Let's see how she likes being humiliated,' he said, as he knew that Amandine would experience the same humiliation he did when he kissed Cecile.

* * *

><p>Upon seeing Amandine and believing her to be with Leon, thinking that the proposal was going to happen, ushered the villagers to approach them and said,<p>

'Here they come, the future Monsieur and Madame Duplonk- DUPONT!'

She got the band playing and as the villagers got closer, they saw Amandine, not with Leon, but in the pond dripping mud, her dress ruined, her elaborate hairdo messed up with Cecile on her head.

The villagers looked shocked, while Jean-Luc covered his mouth to supress a smile and snicker at seeing Amandine covered in mud.

'So when's the wedding?' Martine innocently asked. Furious, Amandine lifted herself up and grabbed the small girl by her top.

'What?' she said.

'Oh, I may be down but I am not out, Martine!' said Amandine, 'Leon will be my husband, whatever he may think! Make no mistake about that!' as she pushed Martine into the mud, with Cecile giving an oink.

'What are you looking at, pig? At least he kissed you!' snarled Amandine, as she stormed off.

'Touchy!' said Martine to Cecile, who oinked in agreement. Then she realised something.

'Hey Amandine, am I still your maid of honour?' she called out, but got no response.

'I'll take that as a yes,' she said.

Amandine stormed past the villagers, dripping mud, angry and humiliated at being rejected by Leon and falling into a dirty, slimy mud pond.

'Even when covered in mud, she still is beautiful,' said Pierre, but Amandine didn't take notice.


	16. Chapter 16

After the debacle had died down, the villagers left, disappointed that the proposal wasn't going to happen and angry at Leon for rejecting and humiliating Amandine, the belle of the village and the last surviving relative of their beloved hero Gaston (even though she came from his less-talented and idiotic brother).

Something was seriously wrong with that boy if he couldn't see what a lovely beauty she was and that she was the perfect wife for him. The boys swore that if Leon came back to the village, he was going to pay for what he did to their beloved goddess dearly, using their fists if necessary (which it was).

Elsewhere, Martine, still sitting in the pond, saw the Etienne triplets walking over to her, which meant that they wanted payment.

'Hey, Martine, aren't you going to pay us for our services?' said Thomas, which made her groan.

'You said that you were doing this for free, since it was a special occasion! You didn't mention anything about getting paid!' Martine protested.

'We never said that!' Aurelien said.

'We don't do this for free, you know,' said Kyle, dryly.

'And we're not leaving until we get paid!' said Thomas, 'We get five hundred coins just for playing that one song!'

'Five hundred coins for that?' Martine said, 'That's daylight robbery and you played it very badly! That's totally not worth it!'

'What you get is what you pay for, frog-face,' said Aurelien, 'Now hurry up and fork out the money you owe us, as we are due to play in the tavern soon. Open up your pouch and let the moths out,'

Martine sighed as she opened up her pouch and counted out the coins she needed to pay the talentless band. She had been saving up for a nice dress for Amandine's wedding and was unhappy that she had to pay for a wedding gift that had been cruelly rejected at such a high price.

'Fine, here's your money,' she said, reluctantly handing it over to Thomas, 'You know, I was actually saving it for my maid of honour dress.'

'So what, you can save up again, it's not that hard,' said Kyle.

'Thank you very much, mademoiselle,' said Thomas, putting the money in his pouch, 'It was a pleasure doing business with you even if the plan didn't go as you wanted to. Do come by the tavern later if you want to hear us again.'

'Sure,' Martine said, as the men left and she got out of the pond.

'Why did you call her 'frog-face', Aurelien you dope?' hissed Thomas as they walked towards the tavern.

'Because she has a face like a frog! Duh!' Aurelien said, like his brother was an idiot.

'She's Amandine's sidekick, you know better to call her names like that!' Thomas said.

* * *

><p>Picking up his book, which Amandine had carelessly kicked off the sofa and landed on the floor and scanning the pages for any signs of damage, Leon saw the picture of the hero and the beast-princess in the garden enjoying a picnic and reading a book together. He read the passage underneath it<p>

_In just a few weeks, the relationship between man and beast had gone from prisoner and captor to friends. He was becoming more comfortable in her presence, as was she, as they nuzzled their noses together, their new sign of friendship._

_He had found something in her that wasn't there before. Yes, she may not be the princess from his stories, but having softened her cold, hard iron heart, he had..'_

Leon was soon jolted out of the hero and beast's picnic when there was another knock at the door. He cautiously approached it, hoping that it wasn't Amandine baying for his blood or her many admirers out to beat him to a pulp because he wouldn't have put it past them if anything had happened to her or if someone had humiliated her.

He looked through the binoculars and to his relief, it was Jean-Luc, who he knew wouldn't beat him up (or anyone for that matter) and opened the door for him.

'Jean-Luc, it's nice to see you,' Leon said, 'I thought that you were one of Amandine's admirers here to seek vengeance and beat me up.'

'Leon, we need to talk,' Jean-Luc said, 'It's about what happened to Amandine,'

'Listen, I'm sorry that I did what I did to her. It wasn't out of malice, I just wanted to let her know I wasn't interested in proposing to her and to get her to leave, I had no idea that she landed in the mud pond.' Leon said.

'Oh, don't apologise, I thought it was brilliant!' Jean-Luc said, with a huge grin on his face, which surprised Leon.

'It was?' he said.

'Of course! It was about time someone needed to take that spoilt brat down a peg or two! I was getting fed up with her constant whining, crying, brattiness and stupid behaviour! She needed a good slap and a push in the mud and you were just the boy to do it! Way to go!' Jean-Luc said, giving Leon a friendly pat on the back.

'But Jean-Luc, I thought that you loved and admired Amandine like everyone else does because I've seen you do it, so why do you think it's great that I rejected and humiliated her?' said Leon.

'Oh, please, do you actually think I like that drama queen?' said Jean-Luc, 'Well, to tell you the truth, I don't! I hate her just as much as you do! But under the watchful eye of the villagers and the guys' influence, I have to act like I do love and admire her!

At the village green, I feigned tears to make it look like I was really upset that she was going to marry you and had to sarcastically say 'Why marry Leon when you could have me instead', once Henri hit me on the arm as he saw that I didn't care about what was going on.' Jean-Luc said.

'I knew that what you do to me or your affections towards Amandine aren't genuine,' said Leon.

'Yes, Leon, you know that when I insult you, tease you about kissing Cecile and act rude and mean to you, I don't really mean it, since I like you. It's just that, well, I have to keep up appearances.

If anyone were to see that I'm actually nice to you instead of being mean and not swooning over Amandine, they'll turn on me and I'll be shunned and picked on as well. You know what they're like…'

'They're like sheep, always following the shepherd, not thinking for themselves, believing anything that they're told and if one were to stray, they would be shunned and picked on.' Leon said, while Jean-Luc stared at him like he had just explained the meaning of life.

'Sorry, I was over-analysing again, wasn't I?' Leon said.

'No, it's very true,' said Jean-Luc, ushering Leon to come outside, 'Come take a walk with me, it'll do you good to clear your head and get away from everyone because I can tell you now, the boys aren't going to take to you kindly after that fiasco and their fists will do the talking for them.'

'Indeed,' said Leon, not wanting to be on the receiving end of the boys' retaliation, closing the door behind him and the two boys walked along the path to the meadow, like the friends they could've been.

* * *

><p>'So if you don't like Amandine at all, then who do you like?' Leon said, as they walked.<p>

'Promise you won't laugh?' Jean-Luc said. Leon nodded.

'It's Martine,' he said.

'Martine?' said Leon, surprised that Jean-Luc preferred her over all the other girls, yet realised that he never paid attention to them other than Martine.

'Yes, I like her for who she is- kind, sweet and generous, not because of her looks because I don't care if some people say she looks like a frog and is plain behind her back or that she's Amandine's lackey. But it's sad that people only respect her as long as she's with her and that she and I aren't allowed to talk to each other.

Doesn't Martine even realise that Amandine isn't letting her be her own person?' said Jean-Luc sadly.

'The same could be said for you, you know,' Leon said, which earned him a confused look from Jean-Luc, 'I mean, what Amandine is doing to Martine is the same as what Henri, Pierre and Francois are doing to you,'

'You're right, Leon, I never actually realised that. To be honest with you, I think that they only reason that they let me in their group that idolises a boorish, narcissist buffoon, is that I'm good at hunting and fishing and they thought that it'll rub off on them. Well it hasn't, let me tell you that!

Henri claims to idolise and be a good hunter like Gaston, but he is terrible at hunting and fishing and sports! Pierre spends the whole time looking at himself in his mirror, seeing how handsome he is and runs away at the slightest animal sound and can't handle one beer! Just one sip and he passes out!

When we were out hunting the other day, a squirrel made a squeak in a tree and sissy boy ran away screaming! How pathetic is that?'

Both boys laughed at that.

'Francois, well, he's as thick as horse manure and eats and drinks too much! And whenever we toss our beers in our toast, he drinks it all and is sick as a dog for the rest of the night!

Also, since I came third in the Games this year, they're taking advantage of the fact that I got free beer for a year as part of my prize and I'm always the one to get it for them!' Jean-Luc said.

'How come you only got third place, Jean-Luc?' said Leon.

'I did well in all the events and came first in Hunting, but the last two events, Egg Eating and Beer Drinking tripped me up. I only managed to eat twelve eggs before getting sick, since I hate eggs and you have to understand that they are raw ones we have to eat so I wasn't able to do the beer drinking, but my scores in the other events were good enough to come in third.'

'And do you think that Beauden cheated to win?'

'I don't know for sure, that had never been proved and there was lack of evidence, so he was allowed to keep his title but I think that Stephane just made that up because he was bitter about coming second and losing to Beauden, his most hated rival. Besides, how could he possibly cheat in Beer Drinking?'

'Maybe he drank two glasses at once or tipped the beer out of them discreetly, so that no one would notice,' said Leon.

'Could be,' Jean-Luc replied as they approached the meadow and sat down on the grass, staring at the mountains, which were capped with snow and the river was flowing.

'Looks like winter will soon be on its way,' said Leon, 'you can tell by the snow on the mountains.'

'Yes, it's pretty to look at, but an unwelcome reminder that I and all the boys need to gather supplies and hunt for food that will last us for the whole winter.' Jean-Luc said.

'But the whole meadow is such a nice place, especially in the spring, summer and autumn. I come here to do my studies when it's a nice day, away from the hustle and bustle of the village and looking at the wonderful view, while I read literature and fairy tales, do mathematics, learn science, memorise dates, read maps and do sketches. I find it very relaxing and content.' Leon said.

'I've always found it impressive that you taught yourself how to read, write and learnt all those subjects. I wouldn't have the willpower and motivation to do that, not to mention I wouldn't have the time , since I have to hunt, fish and train for the Games.' Jean-Luc said, 'I envy you for having leisure time even if it's only for a few hours.'

'Thanks,' Leon said, 'it's great we were able to have this talk together, it's a shame we have to do it when we're away from everyone.'

'Yeah, you're good to talk to and a good listener,' said Jean-Luc, but the two knew while they were friendly to each other, they couldn't really consider themselves close friends, just casual ones when away from the pressures and the ever staring eyes of the villagers.

'Also, while I'm here, I often..' Leon faltered, 'Oh, never mind, I shouldn't say it,'

'Go on,' Jean-Luc urged, ' I promise I'll keep it a secret. You're amongst a trusting person.'

'Alright I'll tell you. You may think that this is silly, but when I look out into the valley and the mountains, I dream of leading a different life, going on adventures to faraway places, using the foreign languages I've learnt and to leave the village.

I just want to be more than they want me to be, that I don't have to compete in the Games, shoot an animal and show off its head like a trophy to be respected and to find a wife for the sake of it or to be the butt of people's jokes.' Leon said.

Jean-Luc looked sympathetically at Leon and felt terrible and regretted having to join in the teasing, jokes and bullying of him, not being able to speak up for fear of being seen as an outcast too.

He never realised how much it had hurt him, though Leon himself had never shown it, but had to pretend not to care and have fun doing it.

'I don't think it's silly, considering what has happened to you and having Amandine give you unwanted attention. I do hope that you find your happiness and adventures, Leon, you deserve it as I feel that you will go far and achieve your goals unlike the rest of us who will probably be stuck in the village for the rest of our lives.' Jean-Luc said.

'I think that you will go far too, Jean-Luc and I hope that'll happen one day,' said Leon, 'anyway, it's not like it'll suddenly appear right in front of me.'

As he said it, a loud noise pierced the quiet air. Jean-Luc whipped out his pistol from his belt, believing it to be a wolf or any dangerous animal who may have escaped from the forest.

Leon listened closely and realised that the noise sounded much like a horse's whinny. As the noise got closer, he instantly recognised a very familiar, yet strange sounding whinny. It could only be..

'Sabine!' he said, as the horse approached him exhausted, panting heavily, wide-eyed and frightened. It was very unusual to see the brave, strong horse in such a state and even more for her to have come home by herself, as she never did that.

'What happened to you, girl? Why are you agitated and frightened? This isn't like you at all!' Leon said, as he calmed her down.

'What's wrong with your horse, Leon?' said Jean-Luc, concerned.

'I don't know but something must be seriously wrong since she never acts like this and never comes home by herself!'

'Well, where did she go and what made her scared and come running back to you?' said Jean-Luc, 'For all we know, she just might have gotten loose and used her homing instincts to find you.'

Leon thought for a moment and then the awful truth dawned on him.

_Mama! She and Sabine must have got lost on the way to Molyneaux and then were separated somewhere! How could this have happened? How could Mama get herself lost, especially after what she had said?_

'Mama,' Leon said, 'She went to Molyneaux to get imported Chinese silk for the Beauforts' dresses and must have got lost …' he gulped, not wanting to think the worst. There was no time to dwell on what might have happened to her. He had to go and find her.

'Sorry, Jean-Luc, I must go and find Mama! She could be in great danger or even worse..' he said, as he put on his cape since it was starting to get dark and the air was getting colder, so the chances were he would spend all night looking for his mother.

Not wanting to waste another second, he mounted Sabine.

'Leon, it's not safe to travel on your own, especially to the dark forest,' said Jean-Luc, 'it's getting dark, the wolves will be out looking for food and you could get lost yourself.'

'But I have to find Mama before it's too late!' Leon said, flicking the reins to make Sabine move.

'At least let me go with you!' said Jean-Luc.

'I appreciate your help, Jean-Luc, but this is something I have to do myself.' Leon said, as he and Sabine trotted down the path, every second counting against them in their desperate bid to find Madeleine.

'Just be careful, Leon,' said Jean-Luc, watching both horse and rider disappear into the dusk and turned back into the village.

* * *

><p><em>So it looks like Irena's prophecy is about to come true. Will Leon find his mother and what will he do to save her? Stay tuned!<em>


	17. Chapter 17

_So in this chapter, Leon finally meets the Beast! What will be his first impression of her?_

_Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed, especially civilwarrose who has left such kind and encouraging reviews! And can you believe I've written seventeen chapters in two months? Pretty impressive, huh?_

_Read on and enjoy!_

* * *

><p>With nightfall fast approaching, the path seemed to get longer as Leon and Sabine trotted along. The horse seemed to be more relaxed now that the most sensible of her masters was in charge and she trusted him with her life and knew he wouldn't make any rash decisions.<p>

As Leon rode, he couldn't help but think about his mother and the danger she was most likely to be in, as the cold, dusk air sent a chill down his spine in spite of his cape providing warmth.

_How on earth could she have gotten lost? _he thought, _She had a map! Why didn't she use it? And if she did, how hard could it be to read it?_

Then he suddenly realised that she wasn't very good at reading maps and had either not bothered with them or relied on him to read them for her, with his self-taught geography and excellent map reading skills. It was starting to make sense now.

'I knew this would happen, Sabine,' said Leon, 'I knew she would get lost. She can't read maps properly and had never travelled by herself before, but she just had to be stubborn, didn't she?'

Sabine whinnied in agreement, as if to say, 'You don't know the half of it!'

Then, Leon had another idea of why she had gotten lost.

'Or maybe… She did have the map and read it or tried to, but somehow, she managed to lose it and missed the turn into Clarat and then you approached the fork in the path and she made you lead her in the wrong direction?'

Sabine whinnied again, like Leon was right, which he was.

'And when you refused to go down that path, she bribed you with an apple until you moved?'

Another whinny but it sounded liked Sabine was ashamed of herself for going against her instincts for the sake of a tasty apple.

'It's not your fault, girl, you'll do almost anything for an apple, won't you?' said Leon, stroking her mane.

'Now that I know what had happened and I'll know you'll hate me for doing this, but you have to show me where you and Mama went before you got separated.'

Sabine whinnied and reluctantly led Leon to the dark, forbidding path which led to the dark forest.

'The dark forest? Why did you go there? There are wolves, bats and it doesn't lead to anywhere and there's..'

_No, _he thought; _Don't be ridiculous, there's no such thing. It's just a silly rumour to scare children into obedience and to not go out of the village and to make people avoid going there._

But despite himself, he felt uneasy as he heard a wolf's howl in the distance, which had confirmed Jean-Luc's warnings earlier but he knew that this was no time to be scared, especially with his mother's life at stake.

'Come on girl,' he urged Sabine, flicking gently at her reins. The horse obeyed and led Leon into the dark and unforgiving forest with no chance of turning back.

* * *

><p>The sky in the forest had turned dark with a misty, grey fog blanketing the bare trees and the sound of owls hooting and the faint howls of wolves could be heard, as Leon and Sabine trotted down the wide path that seemed to stretch further as they went along.<p>

Both of them were shivering from both the cold and their fear, as the fog surrounded them, making any visibility impossible. Luckily for Leon, his mother's travel bag was still attached to Sabine and he was able to find an unlit lantern which she hadn't even used.

'Oh, Mama,' he sighed and lit it, holding Sabine's reins in one hand and the lantern in the other, which improved their visibility slightly and made it easier to get around.

'Now Sabine,' he said to the horse, 'you need to show me where you think Mama may have gone when you left her. Just use your good instincts to make the best guess you can. Mama is depending on us!'

Sabine made a turn and led Leon towards the opposite direction, where she had ran off when the wolf bit her tail and left Madeleine at the mercy of the wolves, sniffing and snorting for anything that she might have dropped when she had run away from them.

Then, something caught her attention and she quickly trotted over to some strange iron gates that Leon had never seen before.

'Sabine, why did you stop here?' he said, confused at why she had done so, but dismounted the horse in order to take a closer look.

'Wait here, girl,' he instructed her as he got closer to the gates, which to his surprise, opened easily like someone had already opened them and entered the eerie-looking castle that they led to.

As he entered, he noticed a blue object that lay in a pile of decaying leaves near the gates and saw the reason why Sabine had led him there. He picked it up and saw that it was his mother's headband.

'So, she did come here,' he said, 'but why didn't she leave? Unless.. she went inside and something made her stay and never came out of this castle,'

He looked up at the gloomy-looking castle and wondered who would live in this miserable place and why his mother came here in the first place.

With that in mind, Leon walked along the bridge, clutching the headband like it was a precious possession, hoping that he was not too late to save his mother.

'Hold on Mama, I'm coming,' he said, as he entered the castle.

* * *

><p>Unaware at this moment that Leon had entered the castle, Cogsworth was in the kitchen having a very heated argument with the fool made of wax, Lumiere about what had happened the previous day.<p>

'I told you Lumiere, to not get any crazy ideas about letting the woman in! I warned you about what had happened the last time you did this and that the mistress wouldn't take kindly to an uninvited guest! That those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it?

Well let me tell you something you fool, history has indeed repeated itself! Thanks to your persistence, hospitality, letting her pet the dog, having the cat on her lap and ignoring my warnings, that poor woman is now in the dungeon getting dangerously ill by the minute due to the damp and cold conditions in there!

I hope you're pleased with yourself!'

'I was just doing my job, Cogsworth! It's been so long since we had a guest and served anyone and I never thought it would come to that! And I did tell the mistress to move her into a warmer, comfy room to recuperate but she wouldn't listen to me!' Lumiere replied.

'Just like you and the others didn't listen to me! You didn't back then and you didn't now! You don't seem to realise that sometimes, your actions have consequences!' shouted Cogsworth.

'Try telling that to Remy! It was his fault as well since he couldn't keep that big, fat mouth of his shut!'

'You all had a fair share in it as well, may I remind you, so don't pin the blame on..'

Lumiere was getting fed up with the pompous old clock and was about to deliver a punch to him, when suddenly,

'Mama?' Leon's voice rang through the main foyer, which cut the argument short and stopped Lumiere mid-punch, making him and Cogsworth turn around and they saw him pass by the kitchen.

'Hello, is anyone there?' he called out. For Lumiere, this was the moment he had been waiting for, the day that Irena said would come, her prophecy coming true, that the boy had arrived to fall in love with the mistress and break the spell.

He was just as excited as he was when Belle had arrived to save her father years ago and he could hardly believe his luck.

'Cogsworth!' he said, acting like his birthday and Christmas had all come at once, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him, barely able to contain himself, 'There's a young man in the castle!'

'Yes, yes, I saw him,' Cogsworth said dismissively while blowing out Lumiere's candles, like he usually did, 'but what is the big deal about him? Why has he made you so excited all of a sudden?'

'Don't you see?' Lumiere said, like Cogsworth was an idiot, 'He's.. he's the one, Cogsworth, the one Irena said would come to the castle. He's the one to break the spell!'

'Oh, Lumiere, you actually believed that?' Cogsworth said, 'Irena only told us that to give us and the mistress hope, which turned out to be false. No young man has dared come here for fear of the mistress's appearance and horrid temper.'

'Well, this so-called false hope is the only one that has actually managed to find his way here and just passed by us! And after all, Irena didn't say how but that he certainly would!' Lumiere replied.

'You're just saying that because you want to be human again, just like when the mistress's mother came here years ago, everyone knows that.'

'No, I'm not, that's a lie, Cogsworth and you know it!' said Lumiere, although deep down what he said was true, as much as he wanted to deny it.

But he was not going to let it get in the way of destiny and jumped off the table he was standing on to find this young man who, in his eyes, was their saviour.

'Wait for me!' Cogsworth said, not too far behind.

'Well, it looks like Irena's prophecy has come true,' said Mrs Potts, who along with Chip and Rebecca had watched the argument and Leon passing by, 'and what a handsome young man he is.'

'Indeed he is,' said Rebecca, 'I only hope he isn't annoying, obnoxious and childish like Remy because if he is, he can go right back to where he came from! We don't need two Remys here, thank you very much!'

Mrs Potts and Chip laughed at that.

* * *

><p>In the art studio in the East Wing, Amelie was busy organising the brushes and paint bottles into the art box where Sophie now slept (much like Chip slept in the cupboard in the kitchen to his dismay) and she needed her help, if she could find her that is, since she was nowhere to be seen.<p>

'Sophie, where are you darling?' she called, 'I need your help getting the paint bottles in the box and arranging them into colour order!'

'Sophie?' when she got no response, 'are you hiding from me, little lady? Stop being silly and come out! You may be a paint bottle, but you still need to do your chores before going to bed!'

'Mama!' Sophie said, hopping excitedly into the studio, eager to tell her mother about the news that had been spreading around the castle.

'There you are, darling, I need you to..'

'He's here!' Sophie exclaimed.

'Who's here, darling?' said Amelie, confused and seeing no one at the door, had no idea what Sophie was talking about.

'The boy, a very pretty boy is in the castle who will fall in love with the mistress and make her happy and a human again! He's actually here, like I said!' Sophie said, saying it as if a magical fairy had appeared in front of her and granted her wish.

'Yes, dear in your mind,' Amelie said.

'No, he really is here, Mama, I'm not lying!' Sophie protested.

'Sophie, I know you want to be a girl again and you want the mistress to stop being beastly to everyone but talking about imaginary boys isn't going to help the situation or get anyone's hopes up. Now, please darling, come up and help me with the paint bottles.' Amelie said, firmly.

'But he is here, I swear!' Sophie said, hurt at not being believed, 'and I don't want to do chores, they're too boring!'

'Amelie, haven't you heard?' Babette said, coming into the room and eager to share what she had heard, 'There's a young man in the castle and he's a very good looking, ever-so-strong man!' which caught Amelie's attention.

'Really?' she said.

'I told you, Mama!' Sophie said, triumphantly.

'Sophie, please don't interrupt,' Amelie said. To Babette, she then said,

'So, it's true then? That a good looking young man has come to the castle and that Sophie was telling the truth?'

Babette nodded.

'I want some of that!' Amelie said, purring and growling seductively, like she did when she was flirting with men other than Raymond.

'Oh Amelie, you are a terrible flirt,' said Babette, 'I wonder what Raymond thinks about your flirting with other men and you are setting a bad example to your young daughter!'

'Oh, he knows it's just harmless and he doesn't take notice of it. But if your husband was an accident waiting to happen, wouldn't you do that?'

'No I wouldn't, since I think that man is too young for you and that he is here to fall in love with the mistress.' Babette said.

* * *

><p>Leon was becoming more and more frustrated as he continued his search around the castle, getting nowhere fast. It was like being in a maze or in the labyrinth of the terrible Minotaur, with the endless corridors, the confusing rooms which led to nowhere and the unsettling beastly statues and stone gargoyles on the ceilings, staircase and walls , which gave Leon an uneasily feeling just looking at them.<p>

_Who would live in a horrible place like this? _he thought as he found yet another dead end and he was beginning to think that he had been sent on a wild goose chase set up by his invisible host who didn't have the decency to show his face to him and lead him to his mother and was playing with him like a cat would play with a wounded mouse.

Eventually for all his efforts, he ended up in some stony place which was unlike the rest of the castle, as it was damp, cold, dingy and dark. Gargoyles were also present on the walls and there were several doors with bars on a narrow rectangular hole at the bottom of each one, the wood eroding from age and the dampness.

If Leon didn't know any better (which he did), he could have sworn that he had found the dungeon and grabbing a nearby lit torch, he walked along it, gagging from the awful, musty smell and called out-

'Mama, where are you? Are you here?' but got no response. He walked on, passing a candelabra resting in a square hole in the wall, which for some reason, looked at him sideways with human eyes and smiled at him.

'Mama, if you can hear me, please give me a sign, a cough, sneeze, anything to let me know you're here so I can get you out of this horrible place,'

As if answering his question, a faint cough could be heard from one of the cells which sounded like Madeleine. Leon quickly rushed over to where the cough came from and saw his mother come up to the bars at the bottom, shivering from the cold, which was unusual for the healthy, strong woman and Leon could see that the cell she was in had nothing more than hay on the floor and a mouldy old blanket for warmth.

'Mama!' Leon cried out, shocked to see the state she was in.

'Leon, is that you?' said Madeleine, putting her hands out and Leon felt them. Instead of feeling warm, they were cold as a hairless cat in a snowstorm.

'Your hands, they're as cold as ice,' said Leon, 'We have to get you out of here before you get even sicker.'

'Leon, listen to me,' Madeleine said, 'You have to get away from this place, it's dangerous!'

'Who did this to you? Who?' said Leon, 'What inhumane monster put you in here to get sick from the cold and give you nothing more than a mouldy old blanket for warmth? Who?'

'It doesn't matter, Leon, just get out of here! Don't worry about me, just save yourself!' pleaded Madeleine.

'No, I'm not leaving without you, Mama! I'm going to get you out of here!' said Leon, jiggling the door, but it remained firmly locked, despite his best efforts.

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?' an inhuman voice growled, as a hairy paw (at least it looked like a paw since the rest of the figure was hidden in the dark and it was hard to see) grabbed Leon by the shoulder, causing him to gasp and drop the torch he had been holding and it landed in a puddle of water, making the flame go out.

'Leon, now's your chance, run away while you still can!' said Madeleine, but Leon didn't listen, as he stayed where he was, determined to face the figure, despite being nervous.

'I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!' the figure said again, 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE? ANSWER ME!'

'I'm rescuing my mother from your horrible prison!' he said, 'Why did you lock her up in here? Can't you see she's sick? She may die in here! What did she do to deserve this awful fate?'

'She trespassed into my castle, that's what and this is the appropriate punishment for her!' the figure responded.

'And did you think that gave you the right to throw her in the dungeon for something as petty as that?' said Leon.

'Yes it does, for I am the mistress of this castle and I can do whatever pleases me, whether it be ordering my servants around or locking up intruders who dare cross my path!' the figure said again.

'You...you inhumane monster! How could you be so cruel to do that to innocent people who only wanted somewhere to stay? Do you have no heart at all?' said Leon, angry. The figure didn't respond.

'Just let her go please, sir..'

'Madame!' Madeleine hissed, not wanting Leon to make the same mistake she did.

'Please, madame,' Leon said, for the voice sounded like a female's, in spite of the deep and animal-like tone, 'Let my mother go, I'll do anything you say, as long as she goes free.'

'She is not free to leave, for she is now my prisoner and will remain here forever and there is nothing you can do for her now.'

'I'll do anything for her,' Leon said, desperately. He then thought of only one solution, a terrible one and he was unaware of the dire situation that he was putting himself into but he had to do it for his mother.

'I'll… I'll even take her place!'

'Leon, no, don't do this!' Madeleine said, horrified at her son's decision. The figure, however, seemed to be taken aback by Leon's offer like she couldn't believe it.

'What did you just say?' she said.

'I said that I'll take her place, I'll be your prisoner instead,' Leon replied.

'You'll take her place?' the figure said.

'If I did that, will you let my mother go?' Leon said.

'Very well then, she is free to go, but on one condition. You must promise me that you will stay with me forever out of your own free will,' she then said.

'Leon, you don't have to do this!' Madeleine protested, not wanting to lose the only family she had left, 'You shouldn't have to give up your freedom for me!'

'There is one thing I want from you,' Leon said to the figure firmly.

'What is that?'

'Come into the light,' he commanded.

* * *

><p><em>Oooh, a cliffhanger! What will Leon think when he sees the Beast in full view?<em>


	18. Chapter 18

The figure hesitated, clearly reluctant to come out.

'I..I don't want to,' she said, 'You may not like what you see.'

'It doesn't matter, I want to see who I'm giving up my freedom for, since all I'm seeing is a coward hiding in the shadows, too ashamed to face what she has done!' Leon said.

'It is considered polite to look people in the eye, you know. What have you got to hide?'

'Nothing,' the figure replied uncertainly.

'Then step into the light, then,' Leon said again.

The figure reluctantly put her foot forward and a light brown paw with long, sharp claws at the end started to emerge, which made Leon realise that his mother's captor was not human, as if the animal-like voice didn't give him his first clue.

The rest of the figure came into the light and a creature, thin and sleek as a wolf appeared. It was truly a terrifying sight as Leon saw a long, untamed mane of hair like a lion's with a pink bow tied in it; small buffalo horns on top of her head; floppy, velvety ears; a pair of piercing blue doe-like eyes similar to a human's staring at him, surrounded by patches of dark brown fur.

The face was wolf-like, as was her snout with two sharp fangs poking out of her mouth; covered in light brown fur, very much like her arms and legs and her long tail which hung behind her and she had a dark brown patch of fur on her chest.

Leon could also see that under the white silk shirt, black silk trousers with a hole for her tail at the back and wine-red cape she wore, the beast (at least that what it looked like to him) was female, as the shirt, in spite of being loose, gave away her feminine figure and curves.

The sight of the Beast terrified Leon as he looked at her. The only time he had seen a creature like this was in the Greek myth he read about Bellerophon killing the Chimera, but he never thought that one would exist in real life and he would actually see one in the flesh and wondered how she ever came to be.

He also thought about the rumour and tale that the villagers told about a beast in the forest and it seemed to be true after all, especially since his mother had been captured by her and now he was about to give up his freedom for her.

'My God,' Leon whispered.

The Beast took a good look at the boy and couldn't help but think that he was handsome, with his thick, brown hair, chocolate brown eyes and well-built figure but having seen his rude and know-it-all attitude and had been very quick to judge her based on her appearance, made her recoil, as did his never-ending staring at her.

'Well?' she said, uncomfortable, 'Are you happy now that you got to see the Beast? And, are you willing to stay here forever like you promised? If you do, then your mother may go free,'

Leon breathed deeply and said,

'You have my word, my freedom for my mother's,'

'Then it's done, your mother will return to the village,' the Beast said, opening the cell door and dragging Madeleine out, wanting her out of the way quickly, while Leon collapsed on the ground.

'No, please, please spare my son!' Madeleine begged, as she struggled to reach out to her son, wanting to comfort him, 'He's all that I have, the only family I have left! Don't let him suffer because of me!', as the Beast dragged her along.

It was a sad sight, for the two were about to be ripped apart, never to see each other again.

It hadn't dawned on Leon that, by agreeing to be the Beast's prisoner, he would be separated from his mother. The intelligent young man cursed himself for not thinking it through.

'There is nothing you can do for him now, for he is no longer your concern,' the Beast said coldly.

'Mama!' Leon called out desperately, hoping to reach out to her one last time, to say goodbye.

'Leon, it's alright, don't worry about me, just take care of yourself now,' said Madeleine, trying to remain calm, but her voice was filled with panic and fear, as the Beast kept on dragging her further away from him.

'Can I at least say goodbye to her?' Leon pleaded. The Beast froze in her tracks. Seeing the boy reach out to his mother reminded her of the terrible day the curse took place, being a frightened little girl desperately reaching out to her parents as they turned to stone, separating them from her for the past ten years without the chance to hug and tell them how much she loved them.

It was only fair that the boy should be allowed to say goodbye, since they would not see each other again and having been touched by his bravery, as much as she tried to hide it, her small compassion she still had inside her was showing and she simply said,

'You may,'

Hearing those two words, Leon hurriedly ran over to Madeleine and mother and son embraced for the last time.

'Leon, it's not too late to reconsider,' Madeleine said, 'think about what you are giving up for this terrible monster! You'll lose your hopes, freedom, dreams..everything! You shouldn't sacrifice yourself for me!'

'I have to Mama,' Leon said, 'I don't like this anymore than you do but it's the only way for you to be safe and I can't break my promise.'

'Well, alright then. You're so brave for doing this,' Madeleine said, 'I'll always love you. Goodbye, my love,' as the Beast came up from behind and dragged her away outside.

'Goodbye, Mama,' Leon said, tearfully as he watched his mother being thrown into some strange carriage covered with ivy and had legs like a spider, from the narrow window of the dungeon.

'Take this woman to the village at once!' the Beast commanded, as the carriage broke free of its ivy shackles and its legs squeaked, not having been used in years as it moved, carrying its passenger into the forest, going farther and farther into the distance until it disappeared completely.

Leon, tears leaking from his eyes, collapsed again on the scratchy hay on the floor, pulled the mouldy blanket over him, trying to make himself comfortable in the damp and miserable dungeon which was his new home where he was now the prisoner of a cold, cruel beast, separated from his mother forever.

_At least I got to say goodbye to her, _he thought, which was some comfort to him, but it didn't take away the pain and emptiness he was feeling in his heart. He had only wanted to save his mother and while he was successful in doing so, the victory was hollow, as he was paying the price for it.

'Mistress,' Lumiere whispered to the Beast when she returned to the dungeon. He had seen what had happened with Leon and felt sorry for the boy. He hoped that the mistress would see to it that he would get a decent room instead of the damp dungeon.

'WHAT IS IT, LUMIERE?' she roared, which made him tremble in fear.

Seeing how terrified he was of her made her instantly regret it, since he was only trying to be helpful, like how she treated everyone, why she was so…beastly to them when all they were trying to do was help her as her parents couldn't.

'That was decent of you to let the boy say goodbye to his mother. Your father never did that to your mother when he let your grandfather go. He just grabbed him out of the dungeon, put him the same carriage and your mother didn't get to say goodbye to him!' he said.

'But how come you did that when your father didn't?'

'He was desperate, Uncle Lumiere and my compassion showed when I saw him reach out to his mother. It reminded me of when I was separated from Mama and Papa and I thought, since he has chosen to stay here willingly and was brave to do so, he should be allowed to say goodbye to her,' the Beast said.

Lumiere smiled at that, knowing that the subject of the Beast's parents was a very sore point for her and the servants, with her going into violent outbursts, crying and roaring uncontrollably whenever it was mentioned, so they went to great lengths to avoid bringing it up.

'Anyway,' he continued before the Beast went into an uncontrollable range if he kept talking about her parents, which he didn't want, 'since the boy is going to be staying with us for a very long time, I suggest that you give him a nice, cosy room, which I believe will be much better than a cold, damp dungeon, don't you?'

'Of course I was going to do that, Uncle Lumiere, I wasn't going to let him stay in the dungeon! Being a beast hasn't made me stupid, you know,' the Beast replied, amazed at Lumiere's uncanny ability to state the obvious.

'No, but it has made you ill-tempered, mean, coarse and beastly to everyone! If your father was here, he would've whipped you into some sense and good behaviour!' Lumiere muttered under his breath, even though he knew that Adam had never beaten her ever, even when she had misbehaved as a human, instead he and Belle scolded her gently.

'What was that, Uncle Lumiere?' the Beast said, having heard through her super-sensitive ears.

'Nothing, Mistress,' Lumiere quickly said.

'That's what I thought you said.' the Beast replied, 'The boy can have Mama's old room in the East Wing, it's the only one that I could think of. Mama hasn't used it for years and is big, spacious and comfy with the basic necessities and Aunt Moiry will be there to help him get dressed in the morning.'

'But Mistress, isn't that room a bit too..feminine for him?' said Lumiere doubtfully, 'I mean, it was good enough for your mother, but for a handsome boy, it doesn't seem appropriate for him. Maybe we should get Raymond and Amelie to repaint and redecorate it to suit his style and needs.'

'It's either that or nothing at all!' the Beast snapped, 'And the room is to remain as it is. No repainting or redecorating will be carried out. Do I make myself clear?'

'As crystal, Mistress,' said Lumiere, reluctantly, 'The boy will have your mother's old room then,'

The Beast picked him up and walked over to where Leon was lying on the floor, the mouldy blanket wrapped around him and his head in his arms as muffled sobs could be heard underneath.

'Are you planning to stay here, then?' she said, silkily, 'Because there is a room in the East Wing for you and I can guarantee that it is better than a musty, damp dungeon.'

'I thought that this was my room,' said Leon, throwing the blanket off himself, ' and if it was good enough for my mother, then it is for me as well!'

You've got some nerve offering me a decent room when you ripped my small family apart and put me in a dungeon, expecting me to make myself at home when I don't feel like it is at all!

And thanks to you, I'll never see my mother or the light of day again!'

'I let you say goodbye to her, at least be grateful for that!' the Beast snapped.

'And you thought that would make it better? It only does a little, since it doesn't change anything or take the pain away in my heart! Mama was the only family I had left and you cruelly took that away from me!' Leon shouted.

'Don't test my patience!' the Beast roared, starting to lose her temper at this annoying boy, but Lumiere gently touched her, preventing an outburst.

'Now, do you want the room or not? Because if you do choose to remain here, you will most likely get ill or hypothermia and you wouldn't want that, wouldn't you?'

'No, I wouldn't,' Leon said bitterly, knowing that the Beast was right and he had to accept her offer, as he didn't want to get sick like his mother did.

'Then swallow your pride and follow me,' the Beast said and Leon reluctantly got up from the floor and silently and miserably followed his beastly captor out of the dungeon.

* * *

><p>During the long walk down the corridor of the East Wing, neither man nor beast said a word to each other, making the atmosphere as cold as the Arctic. Leon looked up at the ceiling, in awe and frightened of the beastly statues and gargoyles, unaware that, from the many rooms around the castle, curious pairs of eyes were watching the boy (in their eyes, he was a guest rather than a prisoner) in amazement and admiration at his brave sacrifice.<p>

His eyes closed, as tears dribbled down his cheeks despite having trained himself not to cry after the death of his father because in the village, if any boy showed even a single tear, they would be labelled a pathetic, emotional wimp and a girl (although Jean-Luc had told him that the boys cried floods of tears at Amandine's failed proposal, which contradicted that belief).

Not looking where he was going, he accidently bumped into the Beast, who turned around and saw that he was crying but kept on walking, wanting to get him to his room as quickly as possible.

'Poor monsieur,' Lumiere said sympathetically as he saw Leon's miserable expression. He noticed that the mistress wasn't saying or doing anything to comfort him, which concerned the candelabra, as he frowned at her.

To break the icy silence, he nudged her and whispered,

'Say something to him,'

'I've got nothing to say! What do you think I am, a mind reader?' she whispered back.

'It doesn't matter, just say anything! Can't you see he's upset? Say something encouraging to cheer him up and make him feel better about being here,' Lumiere said.

'The castle is your home now,' the Beast said to Leon, 'and you can go anywhere you like including the gardens, but you must stay within the castle and if you leave, there will be serious consequences.'

She hoped that being allowed to wander around the castle freely rather than be confined to one room, as long as he didn't go in the West Wing, would cheer Leon up, but it didn't seem to, as he remained silent.

'But there is one thing,' she then said, 'You are forbidden to go into the West Wing,' which caught Leon's attention.

'And why is that?' he said.

'I have my reasons,' the Beast said.

'What is in there that you don't want me to…'

'STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!' she roared, which made a portrait fall off the wall and Leon flinch.

* * *

><p>After a while, the Beast stopped outside sea green double doors which were decorated with gold and had golden handles, with a white border around them. She opened them, while noticing three pairs of eyes peeping out from the art studio. One fierce scowl and growl from her was enough for the eyes to retreat inside quickly in fear.<p>

Doors open, she ushered Leon to follow her inside and he entered into a rather feminine-looking room, painted a pinkish-lavender colour with elaborate purple decorations on the walls.

Candle holders were on the walls in different places and a huge canopy bed with deep purple drapes, a teal bedspread with pink and blue cushions and pillows on it and a rose carved into the footboard sat in the middle.

A huge window was on the west side, with a long cushion on the still for sitting on and a large white wardrobe with green doors sat on the right side of the bed, while a bedside table was on the left as was a little table with some teacups on it and a mahogany desk could also be seen near the window.

Leon's first impression of the room was that it was too 'girly' for him and wondered why the Beast had offered it to him, where he could have any other room in the castle, but her 'take it or leave it' attitude convinced him that it was better than being in the dungeon.

'This is your room,' the Beast said, 'I hope that you, um, like it.' She faltered at the last sentence as she was embarrassed to have given it to him due to its décor and that she had just put this boy in the gloomiest castle in the land. Leon just nodded his thanks.

'If you need anything, my servants will attend to you. Don't hesitate to ask them.' Lumiere then nudged her and whispered,

'Dinner! Invite him to dinner!'

Dinner is at eight and I expect you to join me. Until then, you have time to do whatever you may please,' she said.

'I'm not having dinner with you,' Leon said, 'I'm not hungry,'

'THAT WAS AN ORDER, NOT A REQUEST!' the Beast roared and slammed the door, which Leon leaned on in a heap.

Seeing no other option, he walked over to the bed, collapsed on it and buried his head under his arms, shedding tears, while early winter snow, unusual for this time of year, started to fall outside in the dark with snowflakes drifting gently on the window.


	19. Chapter 19

Feeling that he had no more tears to cry, Leon, his face tearstained and eyes red and sore from crying, slowly rose up from the bed and walked over to the window, sat on the still and watched the snow falling down lightly outside and snowflakes making unique patterns on the glass.

Normally, Leon loved looking at snowflakes and the patterns they made but he felt like they were mocking him by showing a beautiful scene outside to him, where they were floating freely in the sky while he was in gloomy, dark castle, confined to a room he felt was too feminine looking for him (but nice and spacious, he had to admit) like it was an insult and he was at the mercy of a terrible beast as her prisoner.

Leon sighed while lamenting his fate and the family, hopes, dreams, future and a friend he had lost due to his sacrifice.

His luck had changed like his mother said, only for the worst and he hadn't expected to be a prisoner of the Beast, promised her to stay forever and leave everything he had known behind.

All he had wanted was to have adventures, leave the village, find true love and save his mother, trying to be a good son but never realised that he had to sacrifice his freedom for her and never see her for as long as he remained in the castle.

Leon then considered escaping and making a run for it- he could sneak out, get Sabine who was probably still waiting for him at the gates and wondering why he hadn't come out yet and where he had got to and run away back to the village- but decided against it for he would most likely get lost in the maze of rooms and corridors and if the Beast caught him escaping (or at least trying to) when he had promised her he wouldn't, he would get thrown back in the dungeon for his pains.

Fresh tears began to fall as Leon put his face in his hands, grateful that no one was around to see him cry as he imagined the boys back in the village taunting him for crying and showing emotions, being an emotional wimp and a girl.

'Hey kid,' a voice said outside the room. Leon stopped crying as his ears perked up at hearing a voice other than the Beast's call out to him.

It was loud like hers but didn't have her silky, deep animal-like tones, which was a relief, as Leon had expected it to be her. It was more like a young man's, about his age or older; a lively, friendly, jokey voice which was a welcome thing to hear rather than roaring and growling.

Leon had decided to defy the Beast by not accepting anything her servants had to offer but the voice was so friendly, that he thought it would be rude to ignore it and said,

'You can come in if you like,'

The door opened and the voice said kindly,

'Rough day, huh?' as Leon turned around and saw that the voice belonged not to a human man but a washboard that was waddling over, eager to greet him and be the first of the servants to do so.

Leon looked at it, wondering why it was able to walk and talk without anything helping or powering it, much like the candelabra he had seen earlier talking to the Beast and wondered if there were any more objects like him.

'Yeah, I'm a washboard, big whoop, want to fight about it?' he said, when he noticed Leon looking at him.

'I'm kidding,' he then said, giving Leon a friendly nudge, 'I'm just messing with you, that's all, it's what I like to do. I wouldn't fight with you! Anyway, it looks like you've had a rough day, like I said before.'

The washboard's friendly tone, warm yet goofy smile and sympathetic look at his red eyes and tearstained face made Leon give a small, sad smile back and reply,

'Yes, it has been rough, thank you for asking,' which sounded a bit sarcastic but the washboard didn't seem to mind or take notice.

'Oh, I've had rougher myself but if I were to tell you, I'll have to write a book about it and since I can't write, it'll be like a blunt pencil- pointless!'

Leon, in spite of his sadness, gave a small chuckle.

'Ha, ha, I'm hilarious, aren't I? I'm glad you appreciate my humour, no one else really does, since they all think I'm an idiot and a loudmouth amongst other many other things, but I won't bore you with the details.

When I heard that you were our new guest, I thought that I would be the very first servant to come and talk to you since I'm so good at cheering people up and here I am! Oh, and if you have any laundry that needs to be done, please don't hesitate to come to me and I'll have it done in a blink of an eye!'

'Well, thank you for that,' Leon said.

'Oh, I'm so sorry, where are my manners? I better introduce myself!' he said while making a show of 'finding his manners' (literally) which made Leon laugh, amused by his antics.

'Manners, where are you? Why do you always hide when I need you most… Oh here they are!' the washboard said triumphantly, ' Anyway, my name's Remy and it's very nice to meet you and to be your very first friend and one of many loyal servants happy to serve you at any time, no questions asked, or requests too ridiculous!'

'Nice to meet you Remy,' said Leon, 'My name is Leon Dupont,'

'Leon,' Remy said, rolling it around his tongue like it was a delicious sweet, 'that's a great name, means 'lion' doesn't it?'

'That's right,' Leon said, amazed at his knowledge.

'Now to find a suitable nickname for you,' said Remy, 'You see, I call everyone here a nickname I give them with the exception of the mistress, of course. Help me out here, kid; what do they call you where you come from?'

'Well,' said Leon, hesitating, 'Back in the village, everyone called me 'Duplonk' amongst other things,' He didn't want to mention 'Swinekisser' as being another nickname for obvious reasons.

'Duplonk?' said Remy, 'Well, that's not a very nice nickname for you! An honoured guest like you doesn't deserve that! Let's find you a nicer one, shall we, that is if you don't mind, do you?'

'Not at all, as long as it's not offensive or demeaning,' said Leon.

'That's good because everyone else DOES MIND,' said Remy, 'they don't like the nicknames I give them, even though they're fun and not offensive. They think I can't be bothered to remember their names, I do but I just like to use a nickname, that's all.

Tell you what; I'm just going to call you 'kid.' It's already stuck in my head, I like the sound of it, it's not at all offensive and it's simple and suitable for a nice boy like you,'

'Thank you, Remy,' said Leon, glad not to be known in the castle as 'Duplonk' or 'Swinekisser'.

'You're welcome, kid,' Remy said, ' and that was a great thing you did, having the guts to stand up to the mistress and giving up your freedom for that woman who was here before,'

'You mean my mother?' said Leon, ' and how did you find out about that?'

'She's your mother? I first thought that she was Lumsie's new girlfriend! Well, I can see the family resemblance right there!' Remy laughed and Leon gave a slight chuckle at that, for he resembled his father rather than his mother, so he couldn't see why Remy would say that.

'And how I found out, you see, news travels fast in the castle. When she was here, we had so much fun serving her, making her feel welcome because she was the first guest we've had in years and I even washed her cape for her, well me and my brother did- did I mention I have an older brother? No? Well, now you know!

Anyway we were having a great time, until the mistress came in an angry mood, spoiled the party and chucked your poor Mumsie in the dungeon to catch cold and die just because she came in wanting shelter!' Remy said.

'Your beastly mistress shouldn't be allowed to treat people like that,' Leon said, 'It's cruel and inhumane locking up innocent people and treating them badly. You should tell her that.'

'If we did, we would get a roar in the face,' said Remy, ' But that's how she is, she hasn't been around people for years and her manners and social skills have rusted up, which is a shame because she used to be so happy, kind and polite.

But don't worry, kid, her roar is worse than her bite! Not that she's bitten anyone apart from animals she hunts and eats, but since you aren't one, you're safe as houses!'

Leon gave a small, sarcastic chuckle at that.

'And if you let yourself get close to her, be her friend and fall in love with her, she'll change for the better and the s..'

'The what?'

'I've said too much, kid, you better figure that out for yourself, but you didn't hear it from me!'

'Well, despite what you believe, I am definitely not getting close to your mistress, I'm not going to be her friend and I most certainly am not going to fall in love with her! From what I first saw, she's nothing more than an ill-tempered, mean, cruel, selfish and horrible looking beast and nothing will change that!' Leon said.

'You will eventually kid,' said Remy.

'Anyway,' Leon said, keen to change the subject, 'are there other servants like you?'

'Plenty of them, kid and they're very excited to meet you!' said Remy.

'Remy, there you are!' another strange but friendly voice said near the door, 'I've been looking everywhere for you!'

'Speak of the devil, kid, this is my big bother-BROTHER, George or Georgie as I like to call him!' said Remy, as a washtub hopped in with a harried and annoyed look on his face.

'I hope that you haven't made a nuisance of yourself, Remy,' said George, as the last two days had been total pandemonium thanks to him and he hoped that he didn't do what he did again.

'No Georgie, I've just been introducing myself to the kid, since none of you had the decency to do it yourselves and cheering him up!' said Remy, 'Read page one of _How to Be a Servant_- 'Introduce Yourself to New Guests!'

'Actually, it's 'Always respect your masters and never question them!' something you're clearly not doing,' said George.

'No, YOU'RE not doing it, Georgie, you haven't even introduced yourself yet and instead you're giving me the lecture of the century about servant behaviour! Don't you know that's rude not to do that?'

'Oh, really Remy, I hadn't realised that. But you've seemed to have taken the liberty of introducing me to the boy earlier, you idiot.' George said, but nonetheless said to Leon,

'Welcome to the castle, monsieur, my name is George, as Remy has told you already and I sadly have the misfortune to be his older brother but it is a pleasure to meet, serve and do your laundry for you, sir.'

'I'm Leon Dupont, it's very nice to meet you and Remy as well,' Leon said.

'I do hope Remy hasn't been bothering you,' George said, apologetically.

'Oh, no, on the contrary, he has been very friendly and entertaining,' Leon said. Remy gave George a smirk as if to say 'See?'

'See, Georgie? The kid appreciates me cheering him up, which you and the others don't! And if that is a crime in your books, then consider me guilty as charged!'

'And your punishment is doing the laundry which you were supposed to have done ages ago! Being a washboard and having no arms and legs is no excuse for being lazy and skiving off your duties!' George said.

'Alright, Georgie, I'll do the stinking laundry! Just don't lecture me, okay?' said Remy.

To Leon, he said,

'See you later, kid, Big Bother and duty calls! We'll give you a hamper to put your dirty clothes in later so we can collect and wash them!'

'It was nice to meet you both and thank you Remy, for making me feel a little better,' Leon said.

'Anytime, kid,' Remy said, 'Oh, by the way, since you've still got some time before you have to go down to dinner with the mistress and if you're desperate for something for do, why not visit Ray-Ray, Ami and Soph in the art studio? It's only a short distance from your room and they'll love to see you, especially little Soph! She's very excited to meet you, you think she's had all her birthdays come at once!' said Remy.

'I'm not having dinner with the mistress,' Leon said, 'but thank you for your offer, I'll take that into consideration.'

'Okay, but you're playing with fire by refusing dinner,' Remy replied.

'Come along, Remy,' George said and the two left the room.

'If I was human, I swear I will punch you in the face, Remy,' he then muttered to himself.

'What was that, Georgie?' said Remy.

'Oh, nothing dear brother, just keep hopping,' George said.

Leon looked at the clock on his bedside table and saw it was six-thirty. He still didn't want to go to dinner, he wanted nothing to do with the Beast, but having made a new friend in Remy and maybe George and curious to see the art studio, crept out of his room dragging along some string he had found in the desk's drawer so that he would find his way back easily and walked down the long corridor.

* * *

><p>Back in the village, at the tavern, everyone returned to good spirits after the proposal debacle, drinking beer, playing cards, chess and arm wrestling; the Bimbette cousins, their mothers and barmaids were serving beer (and cleaning up vomit from the floor to their disgust) and LeFou and Genevieve were pouring beer into mugs and preparing big, hearty meals for the men and boys.<p>

In the area dedicated to Gaston and where he once sat like a king, Amandine, who now occupied it, was back in her violet dress and sulking on her purple velvet throne fit for a princess, underneath a portrait of herself which was in the place where Gaston's one had been (it was now on the left of the wall with his trophies and the list of winners of the Games).

All the boys (except for Jean-Luc, who was sitting at a table, drinking and Francois, who was drinking mug after mug of beer next to him) surrounded her, comforting her, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, kissing her hand, trying to get her to notice them and worshipping the ground she walked on, the same one as their hero Gaston and Martine was duly by her side on the left

Amandine wasn't paying attention to them or returning their affections, instead fuming at her failed plan and being rejected and humiliated by Leon.

'That good for nothing..' she muttered, as she held a royal family candle in her hand, scowling at it like her most hated things were in one single ball of wax, wanting to squash it.

'Who does he think he is?' Amandine then said, 'That boy has messed with the wrong girl!'

'He sure has!' Martine said in agreement.

'No one and I mean NO ONE says no to Amandine LeGume and retains their dignity!' Amandine said.

'Well, there's a first time for everything, Amandine!' Jean-Luc said, 'and Leon had the good sense to turn you down after that disgusting proposal!'

'What, Jean-Luc?' said Amandine.

'Don't listen to him, sweet Amandine, he's Duplonk's friend and we all know it! He pretends not to be, but he can't deny it any longer!'

To Jean-Luc, Henri muttered,

'Look, Jean-Luc, you're hanging on by a thread here with your fence sitting. Either you shape up and act like a proper Muscular Man or you're out of the group!'

'Yes, Henri,' Jean-Luc said, somewhat sarcastically.

'I give him the wonderful opportunity of a lifetime and what does he do? Dismisses me! Rejects me! Publicly humiliates me! Makes me fall in to a mud puddle and ruin my beautiful red dress!

It's more than I can take and it's ruining my complexion!' Amandine wailed, looking in the mirror for an invisible blemish or spot that may have appeared on her face.

'Should I run a milk bath for you, Amandine?' Martine said, helpfully.

'What for? It won't help!' said Amandine.

'Looks like the shoe's on the other foot, Amandine,' said Jean-Luc, 'Now you know how Leon felt when he was humiliated after the pig incident!' but she and the boys ignored him.

'Ooooh, that Duplonk has got some cheek turning you down like that!' said Pierre, 'If I ever get my hands on him, I'll give him the flogging of a lifetime! But I don't want to get my hands dirty, so I'll get someone else to do it for me!'

'I'll hunt that coward Duplonk down and bring back his head on a pike for you, our lovely queen!' said Beauden, which made the boys cheer, willing to commit murder for their goddess.

'What are you going to do, Francois?' Henri called out to him.

Francois's only response was to fall off his chair and vomit on the floor.

LeFou called, 'Bridgette, Violette, Annette, I need one of you to clean up the vomit!'

'But that's disgusting!' Bridgette said in horror.

'I did it the last time!' said Violette.

'Well, I'm not doing it!' said Annette.

'Hey, if you didn't want to clean up vomit, you shouldn't have become a barmaid!' said Henri which earned him high fives from the boys.

'Oh, snap!' said Pierre.

The girls drew straws and Annette ended up being the one to clean up the vomit, to her dismay.

'Gross,' she said.

'Now, we were going out to hunt Duplonk down and bring back his head for Amandine!' Stephane said, and the boys resumed their cheering.

'Boys, please,' Amandine said, flattered that they were willing to kill Leon, but she didn't want him dead, she just wanted attention and to feel better.

She clicked her fingers and the boys quickly obeyed, calming down.

'Leon has made it obvious what I really am today.. I AM A DISGRACE.'

'You? Never!' the boys said, horrified that she would say that, 'How could you think that?'

'The milk baths aren't working… I'm losing my looks… I'm UGLY!' wailed Amandine, 'How could you bear to look at this sad, ugly excuse for a lovely beauty like me?'

'But you are beautiful, Amandine!' the boys said, 'No one is like you; you're everyone's belle ideal!'

'Is there anything I can do for you, Amandine?' Martine asked.

'Yes, there is something you can do for me- make Leon my husband!' said Amandine, 'or GETTING OUT OF MY SIGHT! I've had enough of your incompetence, your stupidity, your repeated failures at the simplest of tasks, your dumb ideas and looking at your disgusting froggy face!

Leave me alone for the rest of the night, Martine and don't speak to me until tomorrow!'

'But Amandine..' said Martine.

'GET OUT!' Amandine screamed and Martine scattered like a startled cat, while she stayed in her throne, sulking, not having cheered up one bit, all due to Leon's rejection.

'Stupid boy,' she muttered, 'but he'll be mine, I just have to think of another plan! He won't escape my clutches again!'


	20. Chapter 20

_Hey everyone!_

_Twenty chapters already and still going strong, thanks to your support!_

_In this chapter, Amandine gets her very own version of her uncle's song, called simply 'Amandine,' to the tune of 'Gaston,' but with my own lyrics, so I hope you enjoy it!_

_And there is an explaination of why LeFou can't defend Martine when Amandine treats her badly in public, so I hope that is cleared up._

_Read on and let me know what you think of the song!_

* * *

><p>Jittery from Amandine's latest outburst at her, Martine went over to where LeFou was and wanted to talk to her mentor, since he knew he would understand and listen to her.<p>

When he had seen the poor girl get treated cruelly by Amandine, he looked at her sympathetically, having gone through the same thing with Gaston but couldn't defend Martine, for he was still unassertive, even though years had passed since his hero's death and was also very disliked, afraid and dominated by Amandine and he was too scared to stand up to her, for fear of retaliation.

He could see himself in Martine, despite not being a relative and was willing to listen to her and give her advice as she was trying so hard to please Amandine no matter how badly she treated her.

'It's tough being a sidekick, huh Martine?' LeFou said, 'I know how you feel at the moment as I went through the same with Gaston.'

'Yeah, LeFou, you're on to it,' said Martine, crestfallen, 'I try and try but it's just not enough! You saw that she yelled at me to leave her alone and doesn't seem to appreciate what I do for her and I hate seeing her unhappy. What should I do?'

'Well, when I was Gaston's sidekick and Belle rejected and humiliated him, I sang a song about how great he was and it cheered him up in no time! I think that you can do the same for Amandine. Trust me, it'll work.' LeFou said.

'That's a great idea, LeFou,' said Martine, 'but can you tell me the words, please? And does it matter that I can't sing well?'

'Sure, anything for my good friend and great sidekick and it won't matter if it's off-key or not sung well, as long as it comes from your heart.' LeFou said and dug out a piece of parchment and gave it to Martine, who read it.

'It's a great song, LeFou,' she said, 'But is it okay with you if I change the words to suit Amandine? I don't think that what you sang about Gaston would apply to her.'

'I see your point,' LeFou said, reading the parchment for himself, 'Go ahead, Martine, cheer your dear friend up and sing about how great she is, like her uncle was before her!'

'Thanks LeFou, you're the best mentor ever!' Martine said, planting a kiss on his cheek, which made him blush. Excitedly, Martine whipped out a quill and hummed while she wrote a brand new song.

* * *

><p>Her song in hand, Martine nervously approached Amandine, who was taking her frustrations out on her poor mother, who had put out the royal family candles in the tavern, the very thing she despised and she was letting Genevieve know it.<p>

'Mother, why have you got those monstrosities in our tavern?' she said.

'They're for the royal family, dear,' Genevieve said. She was a mousy woman from whom Amandine got her looks from, except she had red hair in a bun and green eyes.

She was very kind, generous and friendly and never raised her voice or got angry but was very timid, easily dominated and trusted everyone, henceforth why Anton was able to get with her and Amandine was able to rule over her.

'They've done many wonderful things for us and the kingdom and had been excellent, kind, graceful and benevolent rulers. It's still nice to honour them, dear, even though we don't know why they disappeared.'

'You do realise, Mother, that these were the people who were responsible for the deaths of Father and Uncle Gaston and you're lighting those awful candles in their honour, when they shouldn't be at all!

It's Father and Uncle Gaston that you should be honouring instead! It's like you've forgotten all about them, that they don't matter to you, like they never existed in your eyes!' Amandine screamed.

'But Amandine, you never knew them and your father and I never stayed together, let alone got married and they chose to do what they did and paid the price. The king and queen didn't kill them; they brought it on themselves due to their jealousy, so it shouldn't matter to you to be angry at the royal family, dear.'

'It does matter, Mother, because if you and Father hadn't met, I wouldn't be here to be adored and doted on by everyone! Now, get those disgusting, ugly, badly-made lumps of wax that represent the people I HATE so much out of my sight!' Amandine screamed and poor Genevieve had to obey her daughter by taking them down reluctantly.

'Oh, dear, Genevieve,' Claudia said sympathetically, having seen what happened.

'She's a good girl really; she just gets moody when anyone mentions her father and uncle.' Genevieve said and put the candles in her room.

'I'm sorry, Your Majesties,' she whispered, so that Amandine and everyone wouldn't hear her, 'I'm sorry I had a child with that idiot Anton who tried to kill you and your beautiful daughter years ago.'

Even though she loved her daughter, like a mother should, she found it too much being dominated by her and having to give in to her demands but hid her frustrations from everyone as not to arouse suspicion.

While she was in the room, she decided to retire for the night even though it wasn't late, claiming she had a headache and let her frustrations out in tearful sobs on her bed.

* * *

><p>Martine, hoping that Amandine was calm enough to not yell at her, timidly approached her and said,<p>

'Amandine?'

'Martine, I told you not to talk to me for the rest of the night!' Amandine shouted, 'Go away, you doofus!'

'But Amandine, you need to stop sulking about Leon, pick yourself up and get back on the horse, because I hate seeing you unhappy.' Martine said.

'And how do you suggest I do that?'

'I have a song dedicated to you to cheer you up.'

'If it's sung or played by those talentless idiots, I'm not interested! Do you want another drum on your head, Martine? Because that's what your face is saying, it's saying 'Amandine, I've given you another crummy gift that you don't want, please shove a drum over my head!' Amandine said.

'No, I won't get the Etiennes to play again since I had to give nearly all my money to them. It's a song that LeFou gave to me. He sang it to your uncle when his proposal to Queen Belle was rejected, only I changed the words to suit you.' Martine said, which got Amandine's attention.

'Why do you take advice from that idiot, LeFou? It's never any good, which is why your ideas always fail. But since it was Uncle Gaston's song, I'll listen.

But it better be good, otherwise you'll get not only a drum over your head, but a tuba as well!'

'Believe me, it is,' Martine said, 'and everyone can join in, if they want to.'

She cleared her throat and with the villagers watching, she began to sing:

_Gosh, it saddens me to see you, Amandine_

_Looking so sad and so blue_

_Every guy here would love to be yours, Amandine_

_Don't tell me that's not true_

_There's no woman in town as admired as you_

_You're everyone's favourite gal_

_Everyone's awed and inspired by you_

_And that's truly swell!_

The boys sighed admiringly while the girls looked at her like the idol she had always been to them.

Amandine didn't say anything but was still keen to listen.

Martine carried on:

_No one's pretty as Amandine_

_No one's nifty as Amandine_

_No one's as enchanting as Amandine_

_For there's no woman in town who's a goddess_

_More beautiful than Aphrodite and Venus combined!_

_You can ask anyone about a girl who's flawless_

_And they'll tell you one who is so divine!_

The villagers joined in with the Bimbette cousins, Adelaide, Anais and the girls picking up Martine and swung her back and forth, like she was on an invisible swing.

_No one can match Amandine_

_A real catch like Amandine_

Martine chimed in,

_No one has a chest the size of Notre Dame like Amandine!_

Amandine was starting to enjoy herself, pleased that Martine had given her something she actually liked, that she too joined in and sang, praising herself,

_As a specimen, yes, I am captivating!_

The villagers then sang,

_My, what a gal that Amandine!_

_Niece of the great Gaston_

_Is it any wonder she's the best?_

_Never mind the rest, they are all pests!_

Hearing the last line, the girls all started crying but then composed themselves and Amandine loved every minute of it, arrogantly basking in their praises and thrusting her hips at the boys, as they kept on singing:

_No one flirts like Amandine_

_Melts the boys' hearts like Amandine_

_In a beauty contest, no one will win but Amandine!_

The boys (except for Jean-Luc) chimed in,

_For she has the most lovely body_

Amandine sang again,

_As you see, my chest is a lure!_

She plumped up her chest, which made the boys all faint and Jean-Luc roll his eyes in boredom and disgust.

Martine sang,

_Not a bit of her's saggy or husky_

Amandine sang, while running her fingers down her hair:

_That's right!_

_And my hair is so long, silky and pure!_

Then, Amandine brought out all her dresses from her room, putting them against her one by one, showing them off, while the girls looked at them admiringly and wished that they had dresses like hers, sang:

_No one knows fashion like Amandine_

_Looks as smashing as Amandine_

_No one wears such gorgeous dresses like Amandine_

Amandine, while wearing a dress with puffy sleeves and bright, ugly colours and patterns merged together, sang:

_I make even the ugliest dress look elegant!_

'She sure does!' the girls said.

'Everything and I mean EVERYTHING looks good on her!' said Annette.

'She's so exquisite!' Violette said, looking enviously at Amandine's dress, 'That violet dress she always wears, I want it!'

'She could wear a potato sack and still look gorgeous!' Bridgette added.

'Too true!' the girls said.

Amandine sang again, as she poured milk into an elaborately decorated bathtub:

_When I was a lass, I took four milk baths a day_

_To keep my skin soft and blemishes at bay_

_Now that I've grown, I take five milk baths_

_And any imperfections have stayed away!_

The boys sang again

_No one blows a kiss like Amandine_

_Sends us into bliss like Amandine_

_No one is such a beautiful gem like Amandine!_

Holding a box full of jewellery, Amandine sang:

_I use the finest jewels for my accessories!_

The villagers sang the last words, while raising their mugs to Amandine:

_My, what an incredible gal!_

_AMANDINE!_

* * *

><p>When they had finished singing, everyone cheered, the men doing so drunkenly, as they spilled their beer with the barmaids refilling them and LeFou cleaning up the mess (Claudia, Laura and Paula made him do it, since he ran the bar, rather than their daughters) and Genevieve, who had come out from her room to see what had been going on in her absence, smiled as she was relieved that Amandine was happy again.<p>

LeFou, while mopping up beer that Francois had spilled, gave Martine a thumbs up, seeing that his idea had gone down well, like it had with Gaston and that her song was very uplifting to her.

'What did you think, Amandine?' said Martine, anxious to get her approval, 'was that a great song or what? Did you like it?'

'Yes I did, Martine, it was brilliant and cheered me up,' said Amandine, 'Well done for actually doing something that has pleased me and hasn't made me want to hit you, pinch you or insult you even if the idea itself came from LeFou, but I'll let that go.'

LeFou gave her a small smile.

'Martine, you shall be rewarded with not being hit, pinched, having a drum or a tuba over your head and insulted, so your froggy face can thank me for that, but for one night only! And you may speak to me again.' Amandine said.

'Thank you, Amandine, I'm glad you liked it,' Martine said, grateful that her song was well-received and that she was not going to be insulted or hit even if was for one night.

'And I also assume that you meant every word you said?' said Amandine.

'Of course, why wouldn't I?' Martine replied, only to realise what she had said and cursed herself for ruining the moment with her tactless comment.

But before Amandine could react, there was loud hammering on the door which opened it and Madeleine entered, having just arrived back in the village, looking wide-eyed and flustered from her ordeal in the castle and was desperate for help, which caught the attention of everyone.

'Help!' she said, 'Someone please help me!' as she entered the tavern, grabbing mens' shirts, hoping to get them to listen to her and making the Bimbette cousins, who were serving then, spill the beer they were pouring or overfilling the mug.

'Madeleine?' they said, confused at her behaviour. Something must have happened to her, for while they knew she was a bit quirky, but very sane, so it was unusual for her to be acting like a total lunatic.

'What are you doing here?' said Genevieve, 'I thought you went to Molyneaux to get some Chinese silk, why did you come back so soon?'

Hearing Madeleine mention Molyneaux and Genevieve talk about Chinese silk, the Beaufort twins looked at her, expecting the silk they had wanted so much for their never to be completed dresses but they didn't know that Madeleine hadn't actually made it to Molyneaux and not got the silk nor did they care about the state she was in as they were greedy for their luxury item, which they were never going to get.

'Madeleine,' said Adelaide, 'did you, by any chance remember to get the Chinese imported silk we wanted for our beautiful dresses, like we asked you to and generously gave you the money to do so?'

'And do not give us any poppycock excuse if you did not get it! We set you specific instructions to get us light and dark green silk with flowers on it and we would like it in our hands NOW,' Anais demanded.

'Do you hear yourselves, you two?' said Jean-Luc, disgusted at the twins' behaviour, 'Something bad has happened and Madeleine needs help and all you care about is stupid imported silk? That's greedy and selfish of you!'

'Do we look like we care?' Adelaide and Anais said together.

'Obviously not,' said Jean-Luc, for he was right, as imported Chinese silk was the last thing on Madeleine's mind (since she didn't get any), as she kept on pleading for help.

'I knew it; she forgot to get the silk, that lower class, lazy cow!' Anais said, dismayed.

'We'll never get our dresses now,' said Adelaide.

Madeleine, getting more desperate by the minute and frustrated by the ignorant, uninterested and clueless behaviour of the villagers, kept saying,

'It's got him! It's got him locked up in a castle as its prisoner in a horrible, damp dungeon! He's in great danger and I need your help to save him before it's too late! Please, I'm desperate!'

'What are you babbling about, you crazy woman?' said the blacksmith.

'Animal, vegetable or mineral?' the baker said.

'You're making it up, you silly old cow!' laughed Henri, 'Get out of here before we throw you in the Maison de Loon, with all the other patients who spouted complete nonsense about figments of their imagination!'

'I'm not lying and I'm not crazy!' Madeleine protested, 'This actually happened! It locked me up first because I went in the castle after getting lost in the forest, then he came and it let me go but only because then it locked him up! You have to believe me, it's not a joke!'

'Then speak in coherent sentences instead of your gibberish nonsense!' someone shouted in the back and everyone laughed.

Amandine had been watching the entire thing unfold in front of her, as the woman ranted on, not making much sense and flailing her arms around, like a terrible actor on a stage and it amused her seeing a normally sane but slightly quirky woman getting madder and more incoherent and decided to toy with her.

'Woah, woah, slow down, Madeleine!' she said, 'you're going to give yourself a heart attack if you carry on like this!'

'Now, tell us calmly and clearly who is locked up in a dungeon and who did it?'

'Leon is!' Madeleine cried out, which made Jean-Luc gasp in horror and feel guilty about not haven gone with him in the forest, only to hide it quickly, but the boys saw and gave him a look that said, 'You're not fooling anyone, you know.'

'He's being held captive in a cold, damp dungeon in a castle in the dark forest by a horrible, monstrous beast! The rumours and stories are true, a beast really does exist there and we have to save him, before he meets a terrible fate!'

No one said anything for a minute as they were trying to digest what Madeleine had said to them, that the tale they had heard and were told seemed to be true after all. But then again, maybe Madeleine had gone crazy and they decided to exploit that by asking about the beast,

'Was it huge?' Stephane said.

'Yes, it was the most humungous creature I've ever seen, about eight feet tall, with terrible claws, a long tail and had the features of a wolf with many parts of animals combined together!' Madeleine responded.

'Did it have teeth as sharp as knives?' the baker's son said.

'A whole set of them, sharp enough to cut diamonds with two horrendously huge fangs dripping blood and poking out of its mouth and its breath smelt like rotting cabbage!'

'Was it the same one that killed the king and queen and held the princess captive?' Pierre said.

'Uh, could be, I wasn't sure,'

'And it has Duplonk as its prisoner as well?' asked Beauden.

'Yes, that's what I've been telling you the whole time! Didn't any of you listen to me?'

'Well, if it's got Duplonk, then it saves us the trouble of giving him our retaliation for that despicable thing he did to our lovely Amandine by rejecting her! I say, let the beast eat him!' Henri said and the boys cheered and laughed, with everyone else joining in, finding Madeleine's tale amusing.

'Why is this such a big joke to you?' Jean-Luc said, furious, 'Leon is in serious danger and instead of helping Madeleine to rescue him, you're laughing, joking and wanting this beast to eat him?

I find that truly terrible and am disgusted at your behaviour and I don't care if I get kicked out of the Muscular Men! Who wants to be in a group that idolises a boorish buffoon anyway?'

'We do!' Henri said, 'and we don't care what you think anymore Jean-Luc, because you're nothing more than a pathetic fence sitter and it's only your brilliant hunting skills and third place in the Games that is keeping you in our group!

I'm going to give you one more chance to prove yourself worthy to wear the jerkin of Gaston and be my deputy but if you slip up again, you can kiss your place in the group goodbye!'

'Fine, I'll keep up my charade, only because I have no choice!' Jean-Luc said. 'But if I do leave, I'll do so of my own accord!'

Madeleine was becoming angry and frustrated at the incompetence of the villagers and their unwillingness to help her rescue Leon so she had to resort to desperate measures and call on Amandine to help her, due to her influence and ability to get through to the villagers since they usually did what she said.

'Amandine, would you be able to help me?' she asked.

Amandine, seeing the woman looking pleadingly at her, suddenly had an idea; one of many that she was certain wouldn't fail this time.

For as much as she disliked Madeleine, she was Leon's mother and she could just be the key to getting him to marry her and at the same time, exploit his mother as a lunatic as a way to persuade him to be her husband, which she wanted most of all.

'Why of course, Madeleine, you've asked the right girl and you can trust me,' she said in her most sickly sweet tone, 'I'll be more than happy to help you OUT.'

'Boys,' she said, clicking her fingers, 'You know what to do,' as Henri, Beauden and Francois, the strongest of the boys, grabbed Madeleine by the arms and feet and carried her away.

'Oh thank you so much, Amandine,' said Madeleine, gratefully, 'Maybe you do have a heart after all, maybe you are a good girl..'

* * *

><p>Unfortunately for Madeleine, 'help you out,' was not a figure of speech and she found out too late that Amandine obviously had no intention of helping her at all, as she was literally helped out, when the boys tossed her out of the tavern like a piece of trash and she landed in the snow on the ground, quite roughly.<p>

'Good riddance, you loopy woman!' Henri said, 'Go to the Maison and talk to the loonies there, they'll understand you!'

'Bye bye, Mad Maddie!' Beauden taunted as the boys closed the door behind them, laughing at Madeleine's misfortune.

'This isn't what I had in mind!' Madeleine shouted, as she got up and pounded furiously on the door, only to be ignored.

She was on her own now, having been seen as crazy, the last person to be considered that and being refused help, as her only son was in a dungeon as a prisoner of a beast.

'Will no one help me?' she said sadly, as she sunk down on the steps. Leon was never going to be rescued and it was all because of her that he was in that predicament.

'Oh, Leon, why do you have to suffer because of my mistakes?' she whispered into the sky, feeling hopeless to do anything for him.

* * *

><p><em>Poor Madeleine, she should've known better not to trust Amandine!<em>

_The reprise for 'Amandine' will be in the next chapter and Leon will meet the rest of the enchanted objects in it as well._

_Read and review and thanks to those who have done so!_


	21. Chapter 21

_Okay, in this chapter we have the reprise for 'Amandine' and Leon's interaction with Raymond, Amelie and Sophie, so sorry if what I said before was misleading but Leon will meet all of the enchanted objects eventually!_

_Hope you enjoy this chapter!_

* * *

><p>'Was that really necessary?' Jean-Luc said when Henri, Beauden and Francois came back in, 'Madeleine didn't deserve to be thrown out in her time of need, especially when you said you would help her out!'<p>

'Yeah, we did do that, Jean-Luc,' said Henri, speaking as if Jean-Luc was being thick, 'we helped her out of the tavern since she was acting like a total loony, rabbiting on about an imaginary beast! It's what Amandine asked us to do, you idiot!'

'I don't think Amandine meant to literally throw Madeleine out into the cold and ignore her!' Jean-Luc said

'Of course she meant that, we had to get rid of Mad Maddie somehow and throwing her out was what we had to do! Why, I hear you ask? It's because that woman is as mad as a hatter!' Beauden said, snickering.

'Hatters, Beauden?' Henri said, 'They're very sane people compared to Madeleine!'

'Yeah, Mad Maddie!' Pierre said from the distance, 'She's always good for a laugh and she never ceases to amuse me!'

'No wonder Duplonk's the way he is,' said the fishmonger's son, 'he's too devoted to that mad mother of his and has become just like her! He's a mad mama's boy!'

'Mad Maddie, Mad Maddie,' the villagers chanted, 'She's such a baddie!' and they all laughed at their chant.

'Mad Maddie,' Amandine said to herself, the words rolling around her mouth like a delicious truffle, 'Mad Maddie..Mad Maddie.'

Now this was the icing on the cake for her latest, fail-proof plan to make Leon marry her and live happily ever after. She was still determined to be his wife, in spite of the failed proposal and humiliation she suffered and now with his mother going mad, she would be the key to get him to fall at her knees and beg her to marry him. With Martine and the villagers by her side and willing to do what they were told, she was certain that this plan would work.

'Martine, get over here,' Amandine said, clicking her fingers and Martine trotted obediently to her side.

'I have another plan to make Leon my husband and I can guarantee that it will not fail this time! Let me explain it to you through song, so listen up.'

Amandine began to sing,

_Martine, I've been thinking_

Martine was surprised at that for as she knew all too well, when Amandine thought of a plan, it didn't always go right, which was a dangerous pastime and she bore the brunt of her anger at their failures and didn't want a repeat of what happened earlier.

She sang,

_That's bad news for me_

Seeing her sidekick's doubtful expression, Amandine sang,

_I know_

_But that loony woman is Leon's mother_

_Even though she's the last person you would call crazy_

_Because her sanity's alright at best_

_Now the wheels in my head have been turning_

_Since I looked at that mad woman_

_See, I promised myself I'd be married to Leon _

_And right now, I'm hatching a plan_

'If I...' she whispered something to Martine, while the villagers looked on, eager to listen and see what was going on.

'Yes?' Martine responded.

'Then we…' Amandine whispered again, which made Martine gasp and look at her quizzically.

'No, would he?' she said, puzzled.

'Use your mushy brain, Martine! Guess!' said Amandine.

'Oh, I get it now!' said Martine, finally getting it.

'Let's go!' they both said and sang together,

_No one plans like Amandine_

Amandine sang,

_Aims to get her man like Amandine_

Martine added,

_Plans to prosecute non-crazy persons like Amandine!_

Amandine sang again, boastfully,

_Yes, I'm endlessly, wildly resourceful_

_Just like my dear Uncle Gaston_

Martine chimed in,

_And as down to depths you descend_

Amandine sang,

_And I won't even be mildly remorseful_

Martine sang,

_Just as long as you get what you want in the end_

Amandine sang again,

_Who has brains like Amandine?_

Martine added,

_Entertains like Amandine?_

Both sang,

_Who can make up these endless refrains like Amandine?_

They, along with the villagers, sang,

_So her marriage we soon be celebrating_

_My, what a gal_

_Amandine!_

The whole tavern erupted in cheers, excited that Amandine was going to get married after all, despite the earlier setback.

All Amandine had to do to actually make it happen was to persuade (or rather blackmail) Leon to marry her, using his mother and her supposed madness as the centre of it and she knew the perfect person who would be more than willing to help her, someone who owned her a favour and was a warden of a certain asylum.

'Perfect,' she said to herself, 'Soon, Leon will be mine and we'll live happily ever after!' She laughed evilly, confident that this plan was going to work and all of her dreams would come true.

* * *

><p>Still outside the tavern, Madeleine heard the cheers and Amandine's evil laugh inside and realised that sitting around moping and doing nothing wasn't doing her or her son any good and if the villagers weren't going to help her rescue him, she was going to have to do it herself.<p>

'Well, like they always say, if you want something done, you've got to do it yourself and I'm going to rescue Leon from that horrible beast, no matter what it takes!' she said and hurried back to the cottage, not wanting to waste another minute.

Once she was inside, she put on her (still-torn) cape, grabbed a bag and stuffed it with a compass and few of Leon's maps he had been using for study aids and a lantern since she hadn't used the one she had in the forest and probably left it there.

'Right, I think that's everything I need,' she said, as she looked up at the portrait of her late husband, Paul. If only he was still alive, then he would have easily convinced the villagers to help her or even go with her to go look for and rescue Leon.

'Oh, Paul, my darling,' Madeleine said sadly to the portrait, 'If only you were still here with me, you would've had no trouble getting everyone to organise a search party to look for Leon or even gone out with me to do it ourselves.

It's because of me that he's being held captive by a terrible beast and I have to go out and find and rescue him myself. I only hope that you can give me the strength to do this, darling.'

She kissed the portrait and left the cottage, into the cold, lonely night that lay in wait for her, determined to carry out her mission despite not having Sabine and having to walk on foot.

Madeleine was certain that she would find the castle again, even if she had to rely on maps to do so and would most likely face many obstacles, but she had to do it for her beloved and brave son, who had done so much for her.

'Don't worry, Leon, my darling,' she whispered, as she made her way down the path, 'I'm coming for you.'

* * *

><p>Back at the castle, Leon, having walked down the East Wing's corridor which seemed never ending, found a door which had a sign saying <em>Le studio d'art <em>on it, both fading with age as shown by the peeling and cracked paint and eroding wood.

'So this is the art studio,' Leon said and tied the string to the doorknob, opening the door to enter a room covered in dust and cobwebs from years of neglect and disuse, which made Leon cough and shake off a cobweb on his arm.

Easels, palettes, paint bottles with gluggy or dried up paint in them and brushes lay untidily out of a large art chest and the table they were on, piled on top of each other.

Paintings, stained glass windows, pottery, cracking clay pots, half-painted and repaired china, statues and sculptures in various stages of completion were scattered all over the room.

Yellowing, crumpled crayon drawings, much like a child would draw were on the floor and worn down crayons, reduced to stubs were lying around them. Leon picked one up and squinted at it, not being able to work out what it was supposed to be from the shapeless blobs he was seeing.

But he wasn't here to be a nit picking art critic (which he wasn't and actually found the drawings to be cute even if they were shapeless blobs) and put the picture back on the floor, not wanting to disturb anything or touch someone's property.

He continued walking around, admiring the art and sculptures, looking for the people Remy said would be there, not noticing three pairs of eyes in the shadows as they looked at him or the paint bottles, brushes and crayons that weren't worn down coming alive and making squeaking noises and dancing on the table behind him.

'Well, look who decided to come and visit us!' a female voice said, while a brush tapped Leon on the shoulder, which caused him to turn around and see a palette with the brush that touched him attached to it like an arm and a blue beret sat on top of it.

'Hello there,' she said, in a somewhat flirtatious tone. Leon, who should have expected to have seen more moving objects, if Remy and George were anything to go by, was alarmed at seeing the palette talk to him and tapping him on the shoulder when he hadn't expected it; backed away in surprise and accidently bumped into an easel with a black beret, a human face with a brown moustache, who yelped and wobbled backwards, unable to break his fall into some nearby vases and china plates, breaking them into pieces.

'Oh, I'm so sorry!' Leon said, rushing to the easel's side to help him, as it fell on its back and moaned in pain, 'I didn't mean to bump into you!'

The palette, having seen the easel's latest accident, sighed and rolled her eyes, like it was nothing new to her.

'That's another entry for the journal,' she said to herself.

'Ohhh, my back,' the easel moaned in a man's voice, as it tried to get up, the stumps at the bottom flailing wildly in the air.

'Some people always have to make a dramatic introduction, don't they, Raymond?' the palette said, in an annoyed tone.

'Well, they would if they have had someone bump into them, Amelie, since they had been startled by you, when they didn't expect it! You always do that!' the easel or Raymond as he was called said.

'Sorry you had to see that,' he said apologetically to Leon, as he helped him up, 'it's not the best way to introduce one's self, isn't it?'

'Are you alright, sir?' Leon asked, 'You've had quite a nasty fall on some broken china,' looking for any scratches, cuts or china that may have stuck to him, but there didn't seem to be any.

'Oh, don't worry about me son, it wasn't your fault. It was just harmless tomfoolery,' Raymond said, sheepishly, 'besides I've had worse accidents and injuries than that!'

'And I've got the journals to prove it,' Amelie, as the palette was known, said, pointing to a shelf of journals in the distance, 'His accidents and injuries over the years have made a whole library of journals about them! Feel free to read them, if you wish.'

'Um, thanks for that,' Leon said.

'Well, at least the boy now knows I'm accident-prone and clumsy,' said Raymond.

'Yes, you certainly made your mark on him,' Amelie said, sarcastically, 'Anyway, a very warm welcome to you, monsieur to our art studio,'

'I'm sorry it's such a terrible mess, but due to circumstances beyond our control, we haven't been able to tidy up and get everything organised, or finish our art.

My name is Amelie, one of the castle artists, only don't ever call me Ami, like that idiot Remy does, since it's such a stupid nickname and I don't like it at all! I hope he had the decency to not give you one.'

'He just calls me 'kid', it's really no big deal and he's been really friendly to me,' said Leon.

'Sure, whatever floats your boat,' Amelie said.

'And I'm Raymond, the other artist and Amelie's husband. You can call me Ray if you prefer, but not Ray-Ray please.' Raymond said.

'Nice to meet you both,' Leon said, shaking Amelie's brush, 'My name is Leon Dupont and I'm the newest..' he faltered, trying to find the right word, 'resident of the castle, even though I'm actually a prisoner of your mistress.'

'Oh, that's right; you're that brave young man who gave up everything for the mistress to save his mother. I wouldn't have had the courage to do that myself, since I would've been scared out of my wits!' Raymond said.

'What a great son you are, so devoted to your mother that you were willing to do what you did for her.' Amelie said, admiringly.

'Hi mister!' a chirpy little girl's voice said, as a little glass paint bottle with pink paint in it came out of the art box and hopped beside Amelie, eager to meet the boy she had been waiting for, the one to fall in love with the mistress and to be her friend.

'And this little rascal is our daughter, Sophie,' Amelie said, patting her affectionately, 'This is the boy who you've been talking about, the one who we now know as Leon.'

Leon looked at her and seeing her happy face, big smile and childlike innocence, he couldn't help but think she was really cute for a paint bottle.

'I told you he was pretty, Mama,' Sophie said, looking back at him.

'Oh no, darling, you don't say 'pretty' when you're talking about boys who are good looking, you say 'handsome,' and he sure is!' Amelie said, purring.

Leon chuckled slightly, but was feeling uneasy about a palette, who was married with a daughter, flirting with him (but in a friendly, teasing way). Raymond felt the same way, even though he usually never noticed it.

'Oh, gee, Amelie, I'm standing right here!' Raymond said, uneasy about his wife flirting in front of him, 'and besides, he's young enough to be your son! What kind of example are you setting for our daughter, who is so impressionable, by letting her see you flirt with men?'

'Raymond, it's just harmless, you don't mind at all and you know that you're my one and only and I love you dearly, so don't make such a big deal about it,' said Amelie.

'Yes, dear, sorry about that,' Raymond said.

'Do you want to play, paint and draw with me, Leon?' said Sophie,' because I would love it if you would be my friend and play with me since the mistress doesn't want to anymore.'

'Sophie!' Amelie scolded, 'The poor boy has been through a lot today and it's not polite to pester him to play with you so soon! Maybe when he has settled in more, he may but give him time to adjust.

And, little lady, we use a certain word called, 'please' when we want something,'

'Leon,' Sophie said, 'will you please play with me when you have settled in?'

Seeing her cute face, eager for a playmate, Leon was starting to like the little paint bottle who thought the world of him and wanted to be friends.

He may not have made friends with the Beast as their first impressions of each other had not been favourable but it seemed he was winning over her servants who were very keen to befriend him and make him feel welcome, forgetting that he was a prisoner and didn't take great measures to avoid him like the plague.

'Sure, Sophie, I'll play with you,' Leon said, to the paint bottle's delight and she jumped into his hand and wiggled up and down in excitement.

'Yay!' she exclaimed, 'Thank you, Leon!'

'Want to see me do a trick?' she then said, as she took a deep breath, popped the cap off and squirted some paint up in the air and landed it back in her.

'That was amazing, Sophie,' Leon said, as he watched the paint go in her neatly, without spilling anything on the walls or table.

'Sophie, please don't squirt paint, it's not ladylike as I've told you many times before,' Amelie said.

'Sorry, Mama,' said Sophie, while grinning at Leon.

'Oh, Amelie, stop being such a grouch, it's nice to see Sophie having fun for the first time in years and the boy enjoying himself. I'm glad to see a cheerful face around here for once.' Raymond said, seeing his wife's face in a scowl.

Sophie then hopped back on the table and got some paper and her crayons to come out of their tin and they soon got busy drawing, as Sophie instructed them to.

* * *

><p>'Say, Leon,' said Amelie, 'do you paint and draw yourself?'<p>

'Well, yes, I do, as part of my studies because that's what I like to do, or did back in the village- read and study.' Leon said.

'Is that right?' said Amelie, interested, 'I thought that you were the hunting and fishing type, but obviously, that's not your thing.'

'No, it doesn't interest me at all,' Leon said, 'I prefer reading and studying than shooting and catching animals in a barbaric manner just to get respected.'

'And who might I ask, taught you to read and write?' Raymond asked, curious to find out.

'I did,' said Leon, 'I taught myself to read, write and learnt many subjects and foreign languages on my own.'

'You really did that? That's amazing!' said Amelie, like she couldn't believe it was possible to educate one's self.

'Well, my mother gave me a helping hand when I first started to..' Leon stopped as tears fell down his face, remembering his mother.

Raymond and Amelie looked sympathetically at the boy as they saw the sadness, loneliness and the pain of separation in his eyes and were reminded of why he was here, how their mistress treated him by taking his mother away from him and making him stay with her forever due to the brave sacrifice he made for her.

And yet, he was the one who could break the curse, even though it was early days and it was looking very bleak and hopeless for them at the moment, no thanks to the mistress's beastly attitude, having seen it for themselves but they wanted to comfort him, which they did.

'You poor thing,' Amelie said, gently, using her brush to wipe away Leon's tears, 'I know things may look bad now, but trust me, it will get better. You just have to give the mistress a helping hand, that's all.'

'I made this picture for you, Leon, to cheer you up since you look so sad,' Sophie said, giving it to him, the one that the crayons had drawn.

'It's me and you,' she said, as Leon looked at it and saw him holding Sophie in his hand and the words written in wobbly black crayon, 'Me and my friend Leon,' on the bottom of the paper.

'I hope you like it,' Sophie said.

'I do, thank you Sophie, it's lovely,' Leon said, as he thought it was very cute, much like the drawings on the floor and that Sophie was kind enough to give one to him.

'Ooops, look at the time!' Amelie said, looking at the clock on the wall, 'We're kept you here too long! It's seven-fifteen and you better get back to your room to get ready for dinner!'

Leon was starting to get sick of hearing about a dinner he had no intention of going to but he wanted to get back to his room and said,

'It was very nice to meet you all and thank you, Sophie for the lovely drawing. I'll keep it on my bedside table.'

He then left the studio, following the string he had left outside.

'Bye, Leon!' Sophie said to her new friend.

'What a nice boy,' Raymond said.

Leon quickly found his way back to his room and put Sophie's drawing on the bedside table. He then lay on the bed, wishing that he had his book with him, but it was in his bag, which was still attached to Sabine outside.

The best thing he could do now was lie on the bed and reflect on the day he had and the new friends he had made so far in the castle, while drifting off into some sort of slumber, not caring if he missed dinner or not or hearing someone come in the room.

* * *

><p><em>The dinner request scene will be coming up soon!<em>


	22. Chapter 22

Nearly twenty minutes later, Leon was slowly waking up from his slumber when he saw a huge pair of emerald green eyes staring at him up close like they had been watching him the whole time he had been sleeping, which disturbed him, considering he hadn't heard anyone come in the room or had been aware of it and had waited for him to wake up.

'Well hello, Sleeping Beauty,' a young woman's voice said as the eyes revealed themselves to be on a cream-coloured mannequin with a mahogany stand, much like the ones in the living room in the cottage that his mother used; who was still staring at him, hardly blinking.

Now fully awake and seeing the mannequin talk to him, Leon jumped in surprise for the third or fourth time (he had lost count) on his bed and slowly backed away from it, while it moved closer to him.

'Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!' the mannequin said apologetically, but Leon kept backing away until he bumped into the wardrobe which he had thought was inanimate but turned out to be moving as well, who woke up and groaned when Leon bumped into it.

'Ooof!' the wardrobe said in an operatic woman's voice, 'Careful there son!'

'Oh, I'm so sorry, madame, I didn't see you there,' Leon said, 'and I wasn't aware that you were able to move and talk as well.'

'Not to worry, dearie, there's no harm done,' the wardrobe said, 'and aren't you a handsome young man!'

'Um, thank you,' Leon said. He had wanted to shout out, 'Stop telling me that I'm handsome, I'm getting sick of it,' as he had heard it many times before but thought better of it, since it would be rude to shout, especially in the wardrobe's face.

'I know what you're thinking at the moment, that what you are seeing is impossible, but here we are!' The wardrobe said.

'Well, from what I have seen already, I really shouldn't be surprised but I was when that mannequin stared at me, while I was waking up from my slumber.'

'Yes, sorry about that but I didn't want to disturb you while you were sleeping, so I waited for you to wake up so that I could help you get ready for dinner! It's nearly eight o'clock you know,' the mannequin said.

Leon sighed heavily at the mention of dinner again.

'Katrine, dearie,' the wardrobe said, 'aren't you forgetting something, like introducing ourselves to this fine young gentleman?'

'Oh my goodness, you're right, Aunt Estelle, how rude of me!' Katrine said, bashfully, 'My name is Katrine Armoire and the wardrobe is my aunt, Madame Estelle Armoire and it's a pleasure to meet, dress and make clothes for you, monsieur.'

'Indeed, I look forward to helping you get dressed for the day, monsieur although I have to admit I don't normally serve a man, it's always been women but I guess there's a first time for everything, isn't there?' Madame Armoire said.

'We'll manage, won't we Aunt Estelle?' said Katrine.

'Of course dearie, as long as I have to you to help me,' Madame Armoire said.

'Lovely to meet you both,' Leon said.

There was a knock on the door, which cut the conversation short.

'Who is it?' Leon asked, as he went to answer it.

'Mrs Potts-Gravois, dear,' a teapot said, entering the room, as Leon opened the door and let her in, followed by a teacup, sugar pot and milk jug hopping behind her.

'Or you can call me Mrs Potts, if you prefer, everyone else does,'

Before she had come to see Leon, she, along with Lumiere and Cogsworth, had been very discouraged about what had happened with the boy and the mistress as they had been through the same thing with her parents, but they knew that they had to make an effort, no matter what, for the boy, who they knew could be their saviour and break the spell, freeing them all from their cruel misery.

He needed comforting and good hospitality and Mrs Potts was the perfect person to start with by giving him a cup of tea, since she was so motherly to everyone who knew her.

'I thought that you might like a nice cup of tea, dear,' she said, as she poured one into Chip, who had come in with his mother and the sugar bowl put in two lumps, 'It'll make you feel better after the day you've had.'

'Thank you,' Leon said, as Chip, full of tea, hopped towards him.

'Be careful, Chip, go slowly,' Mrs Potts warned him, 'Don't spill anything,' as Leon picked him up, feeling uneasy about drinking out of a moving, breathing teacup but he didn't seem to mind, as Leon took a sip of the tea, which was sweet-tasting, with a lovely, smooth herbal aroma, unlike the malty tea he drank back in the village.

'What a lovely cup of tea,' he said, 'Thank you so much, Mrs Potts,'

'My pleasure, dear,' she said.

'Hi, how's it going?' Chip said, 'How are you liking this room..' while making a face at its feminine décor although it was in this very room that he first met Belle and made friends with her.

'You'll think that the mistress would've given you a better room than this, it's too feminine for a boy. If you like, I can go out and talk to her..'

'No, it's fine, really,' said Leon, not wanting to cause any more fuss than he needed to.

'Suit yourself,' said Chip, 'Hey, do you want to see me do a trick? I used to do it when I was little,'

'Oh dear,' Mrs Potts said, rolling her eyes.

'Okay, show me,' Leon said. Like Sophie had done earlier, Chip took a deep breath and blew bubbles from the tea and grinned.

'Chip!' Mrs Potts said, sternly, 'You're too old to be doing that trick anymore! That's not how a young man..'

'Teacup, Mama,' Chip reminded her.

'..should behave, you know better than that.' Mrs Potts continued.

'Aw, Mama,' moaned Chip, 'how come Sophie can squirt paint from her and have everyone say it's cute whereas I blow bubbles, like I used to do and get told that I'm too old to do it?'

'It's because Sophie is little and cute and you're a teenager and it's considered immature and bad manners to do that,' Katrine said, 'Face it, Chip, your cute little teacup act doesn't work anymore.'

'Exactly what I was thinking,' Mrs Potts said,' and Sophie's mother has the good sense to tell her not to do that trick.'

'She showed it to me, too,' Leon said, 'and I thought it was really cute,' which Chip pouted at.

'Yours was good too, Chip,' he then said.

'Thanks, glad someone thinks so,' Chip replied, giving his mother and Katrine hard stares.

'Still got it,' he said to himself, chuckling.

'Children today,' Mrs Potts sighed, then turned to Leon.

'That was a very brave thing you did, my dear,' she said gently.

'We all think so,' Madame Armoire said in agreement.

'The whole castle admires your bravery,' Katrine said.

Leon sighed as he was reminded of what he had been trying to forget for the past two hours.

'That's very kind of you to think that I'm brave, but I'm not really,' he said and that was true, since no one in the village had considered him brave, only 'odd', 'dreamer', 'coward', 'mama's boy' and of course, 'Swinekisser,' 'I only did it so my mother could be free.'

'Oh, don't be so modest, dear boy!' Madame Armoire said, 'you did such a wonderful thing for her!'

'But for what?' Leon said, sadly, 'I try to be a good son and I get rewarded by losing my mother, my friends, my hopes, dreams..everything! I never expected to be a prisoner of a beast and having her lay my life out for me like it was back in the village. Yes, I had been successful in rescuing my mother, but it's been an empty victory since now I have to pay for it!'

'Don't be sad, dearie,' Madame Armoire said, putting her 'shoulder' around Leon soothingly, 'You did everything you could for her and everything's going to be fine.'

'Every cloud has a silver lining and some good will come out of this, believe me,' said Katrine.

'Cheer up child, it'll be alright in the end, you'll see,' said Mrs Potts, 'Oh, goodness, listen to me! Jabbering away when there's a supper to be put on the table! I better go see how Rebecca and Chef Bouche are doing.'

She smiled warmly at Leon who smiled back and hopped towards the door.

'Come along Chip, let's leave Leon to get dressed for dinner,' she said to him, as he jumped off Leon's hand and followed his mother.

'See you around, Leon,' he said and they, along with the sugar bowl and milk jug left the room.

'Right then, we better get you ready for dinner. You'll have to get dressed for a start,' said Katrine, eyeing Leon's outfit and scrunching up her face like it had some contagious disease.

'Why is everyone so insistent that I go down to have dinner with your mistress?' Leon said, getting sick and tired of hearing about the dinner he was DEFINTELY NOT going to and definitely NOT WITH A BEAST, but it seemed to have gone unnoticed.

'And what is wrong with what I'm wearing? It's my only outfit I have and feel comfortable in,' he said, tugging at his shirt and smoothing down his vest and trousers.

'Well, monsieur,' Katrine said, 'it is a custom in the castle that one must dress formally and appropriately for dinner and that peasant outfit simply won't do.'

'It shows the proper discipline,' Madame Armoire replied, 'but don't worry, we'll find the perfect outfit for you. Let's see what I've got in my drawers.'

As she opened them, several moths came out to her embarrassment.

'There go the moths,' she said, 'now, what would be suitable for your, dearie? You need something formal..' as she fumbled around, ' something that screams suave, genteel, charming, dashing.. Oh, here we go! This would look ravishing on you!'

She pulled something pink and frilly out, which Leon was certain wasn't a formal suit, as it was placed in his arms and he gave the wardrobe a look which said, 'You got to be kidding, I can't wear that!'

'I don't think so,' he said, as he looked at a hideous-looking pink and frilly dress which looked at least ten years out of fashion.

'Aunt Estelle, he can't wear that!' Katrine said, giggling, 'It's a dress and a hideously out of fashion dress too!'

'You're right, Katrine, this simply won't do!' Madame Armoire said, 'How embarrassing!' as she put the dress back.

'Did I mention that I normally don't dress men?' she then said to Leon, 'Now I know I have a suit in here somewhere,'

Katrine whispered to her aunt,

'He'll need some decent clothes to wear and the master's old ones would be perfect for him, he's about the same size, but I'll need to go into the West Wing to get them.'

'Katrine, you can't!' Madame Armoire gasped at her niece's suggestion, but was soon distracted when she found what she was looking for.

'Oh, here it is! I knew I had it all along!' as she gave Leon a forest green jacket with sea green and gold trimmings and gold buttons on both sides which had a string looped in the middle, a white silk shirt with a cravat and black silk trousers.

'It hasn't been worn for years but it should fit you and you'll look so dashing in it, as it really brings out your eyes! Go ahead, try it on!'

Seeing the grand suit and the wardrobe's enthusiasm and kind gesture, Leon was feeling guilty about what he was going to say to her.

'I appreciate the thought, but I've stressed it enough times already that I'm not going to dinner,' he said, giving the suit back to Madame Armoire, who recoiled as if Leon had spat in her face.

'Oh, but you must!' she said, hurt at his rejection of the suit.

'The mistress will be ever so upset if you don't and we don't want that, don't we?' said Katrine.

Before Leon could explain why, there was a faint knock at the door and a little pendulum clock waddled in and bowed.

'Ahem,' he said, gleefully, 'Dinner is served.'

* * *

><p>Downstairs in the dining room, a huge feast was laid on the table with Rebecca and Lumiere adding the dessert platters and lighting the candles, admiring their work.<p>

The Beast, meanwhile, was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, growling in impatience and frustration with her tail swishing between her legs, as each minute ticked by.

'You did tell him dinner was at eight, right?' Rebecca said, noticing the Beast's impatience.

'Yes, I did Rebecca,' the Beast replied.

'Well, it's ten past now and the food is getting cold,' said Rebecca, rather unhelpfully.

'Rebecca, if I wanted to know the time, I would've asked Cogsworth,' the Beast said, like Rebecca was being deliberately oblivious.

'What is taking him so long?' she then growled, 'Surely, it can't take this much time to get here!'

'Katrine and Madame Armoire are probably helping him pick out a nice outfit for him to wear and he must be still deciding which one he wants.' Rebecca said.

'Be patient with him, dear,' Mrs Potts said, 'Try to see it from his point of view. The poor boy's lost his mother and his freedom in one day and it would be overwhelming for him.'

'I lost my parents too, you know, but I don't go on about it!' the Beast snapped.

'Actually..' Lumiere said but a look from Mrs Potts convinced him not to say anything more.

'Mistress, have you taken into consideration that this boy may be the one to break the spell?' he then said, changing the subject.

'Of course I have, Uncle Lumiere, I'm not an idiot you know,'

'Well then, like your mother and father, who hated each other when they first met and eventually fell in love in the end, you and the boy will overcome your differences over dinner, fall in love and the spell will be broken before you know it!' Lumiere said, perhaps a little bit too optimistically.

'If only it was that easy, Uncle Lumiere,' the Beast said doubtfully, 'I know Mama and Papa were able to do it, but I don't think the same could be said for me. I mean, I know next to nothing about love and he's so handsome and I'm so…well, look at me! I'm so..so..'

'Beastly?' Rebecca chimed in.

'Yes, that,' the Beast said, ' Everytime he looked at me, he wanted to be anywhere but here, he didn't seem to like Mama's old room and he doesn't seem to want to be with me, because let's face it, I made a bad first impression on him.'

'Well, tonight's a good chance to change his mind about you,' Mrs Potts said gently, 'Make him see that first impressions aren't always correct.'

'How can I do that?' the Beast said.

'For a start, you can act like a proper lady, like the princess you are inside,' said Mrs Potts, 'Have a good posture by sitting up straight, showing grace and good manners.'

'Give him a nice smile while you're at it!' Lumiere said. The Beast did so uncertainly, revealing a set of sharp teeth and fangs which he flinched at.

'Then again, maybe not, you don't want to frighten him.'

'Engage in witty chit-chat,' said Rebecca, 'only don't be obnoxious like Remy or use worn-out clichés like Katrine,'

'Don't talk about yourself the whole time; give him a chance to talk.'

'Ask him about his hobbies, his likes and dislikes,'

'Look interested in what he has to say,'

'And most important of all..'

'Yes?' said the Beast.

'YOU MUST CONTROL YOUR TEMPER!' Mrs Potts, Lumiere and Rebecca all said at the same time.

Then the door opened and the Beast's face lit up and her ears perked up at seeing Leon come in.

'There he is!' Lumiere said.

'Better late than never,' Rebecca said.

But instead of Leon, it was an extremely nervous Cogsworth approaching and the Beast's face and ears fell in disappointment.

'Good evening, Your Highness,' he said.

'Well?' she said in an annoyed tone, 'Where is he?'

'Who?' said Cogsworth, pretending to be confused.

'You know exactly who I'm talking about, Uncle Cogsworth,' the Beast said, getting frustrated at his dithering and feigned confusion.

'Oh, yes, the boy!' said Cogsworth.

'And is he coming down to dinner like I told him to?' the Beast demanded. Cogsworth, dreading her response if he was to tell he that Leon wasn't going to come, decided to beat around the bush and nervously said,

'Well, Your Grace, there has been a slight change in plans and the circumstances being what they are, I'm afraid that…'

'Cut to the chase NOW,' the Beast said.

'He's not coming,' said Cogsworth.

'Now, you've done it, Cogsworth,' Lumiere muttered, 'it looks like YOU haven't learnt anything from the last time!'

For a moment, the Beast didn't say anything but dug her claws into the chair that she was sitting in and her ears and tail twitched in anger.

'Oh, no,' Mrs Potts muttered.

'Here we go again,' said Rebecca, 'Brace yourselves,'

* * *

><p>'WHAATTTTT?' the Beast roared, which echoed around the castle, 'How dare he disobey me? I'm going to give him what for, that stupid boy!'<p>

Immediately, she dropped on all fours and ran, growling ferociously up the stairs, ignoring her servants' pleas for her not to overreact as they followed her.

'Your Grace, please, won't you reconsider?' Cogsworth said.

'Mistress, please don't overreact!' Rebecca said, as they ran behind her (At least Rebecca did since she still had legs) as the Beast flew up the stairs, found Leon's room and pounded on the door so forcefully that it could've flung off the hinges if she tried hard enough.

'I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO HAVE DINNER WITH ME?' she roared.

'And I told you I wasn't hungry!' Leon shouted back from inside.

'You'll come and have dinner with me, even if I have to break down the door and drag you down myself!' the Beast roared back.

'Mistress, is that really the best way to deal with this situation?' Lumiere said, 'Resorting to violence to get what you want? That's not ladylike at all!'

'If you're trying to win the boy's affections, you're definitely not succeeding!' Rebecca said.

'Please, Mistress,' Cogsworth pleaded, 'we're not asking you, we're telling you, ATTEMPT to be a lady!'

'But he's being so DIFFICULT!' the Beast said.

'The same could be said for you, you know,' said Rebecca, 'your bratty attitude and behaviour is only making this worse.'

'Gently, gently, dear,' Mrs Potts said.

'Will you come down to dinner?' the Beast said in a calm but still annoyed tone.

'No!' came Leon's response. The Beast gave her servants a look that said, 'See? What did I tell you?'

'Remember, poise, grace, gentleness,' Cogsworth said, grinning and bowing.

'Curtsey,' Rebecca added, demonstrating a curtsey.

'It would give me ..great pleasure if you would join me for dinner,' the Beast said, trying to act ladylike but getting more frustrated and did a curtsey, her tail wagging in annoyance.

'We also use a little word called 'please,' said Cogsworth.

'Please?' the Beast said.

'No thank you!' Leon said.

'Well, what are you going to do then? Stay in there forever?' the Beast shouted.

'I may as well!' Leon shouted back, 'I am your prisoner after all and if you think you can win my forgiveness by inviting me for dinner, making me put on a happy face and pretend nothing had happened after what you have done, you thought wrong! I'd rather starve to death than have dinner with a monster like you!'

'FINE!' the Beast roared, 'HAVE IT YOUR WAY! STAY IN THERE AND STARRRVVEEEE! SEE IF I CARE!'

Turning to her terrified servants, she said,

'And don't even think about giving him anything to eat, because if he doesn't eat with me, then he doesn't eat at all!'

She gave a roar, while running off and slamming the door behind her, which made a portrait fall off the wall and poor Mrs Potts, Cogsworth, Lumiere and Rebecca flinch.

'Oh dear, that didn't go very well at all, did it?' Mrs Potts said.

'No, it went splendidly!' Rebecca said sarcastically.

'Really?' Lumiere said.

'Of course not, I was being sarcastic!' said Rebecca, 'Chef Bouche is going to blow his top when he realises that his culinary masterpiece which I helped him with is going to waste, making it the second meal I made that's going to be rejected by someone.'

'How on earth are we going to make the boy and the mistress fall in love before the last petal falls and convince him she's not all bad, when she really is?' Cogsworth said, sighing heavily.

'Just like her father was,' Lumiere said, bitterly, 'If only he and the mistress were here to support and love her, then she wouldn't be so angry and BEASTLY.'

'But they aren't and we have to deal with this ourselves,' said Mrs Potts. At the rate they were going and with the mistress's behaviour not improving one bit since Leon came, any hope they had left was slowly being extinguished.

What did they do to deserve this terrible fate for the second time?


End file.
